The Flaming Heart
by CSIalchemist
Summary: AU. Ash and his friends meet Danny Fenton who wants to confess his feelings to his friend, Sam, at the Founder's Day Festival. To do that, he's training a Misdreavous to do a trick to show her how he feels. Can Ash and his friends help Danny gather the courage to do it? And who will win in the Festival Tournament? This is my first AU story so please be nice!
1. Welcome to Amity Park

**This is my first Pokemon crossover. I thought I would change it up a little and give this a shot. Give me your honest opinions!  
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**This is a slightly alternate universe kind of story. Hope that's okay.  
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**Enjoy!  
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* * *

**The Flaming Heart**

**Chapter 1**

**Welcome to Amity Park**

Ash Ketchum and his friends Pikachu, Dawn and Brock were continuing on their journey through the world of Pokémon. Ash had seven out of the eight required badges needed to enter the Sinnoh League. Dawn, a Pokémon Coordinator, needed one more ribbon before entering the Grand Festival. Brock, a Pokémon Breeder, was looking through a travel book to see where the nearest town was.

All three trainers heard the sound of a growling stomach. The source: Ash.

"Hungry again, Ash?" asked Dawn.

"What do you expect?" Ash asked weakly. "I haven't eaten since lunch."

"Chu-pika," said Pikachu just as weakly.

"Piplup," said Dawn's penguin Pokémon, Piplup.

"Brock, how much farther till we enter the next city?" asked Dawn.

"Don't you mean _where_ is the next city?" corrected Ash.

"Relax, guys," Brock assured his friends. "We're almost in Amity Park, a city known for its Ghost Pokémon."

The young trainers paled. "G-G-Ghost Pokémon?" they repeated fearfully.

"That's the most common type of Pokémon there," said Brock. "It's also the most haunted city in the region."

"W-W-Well, I don't mind skipping that town," said Dawn nervously. "I d-d-don't mind another month of camping."

"I do," muttered Ash.

"There's burger joint we can check out," Brock added.

The mentioning of food immediately changed their minds. "We're in!"

As they continued onward, they walked past a giant billboard welcoming them to Amity Park. The town itself seemed pretty grey and dull aside from an occasional Ghost Pokémon attacking them in the form of a prank. After getting directions at a nearby Pokémon Center, our heroes found the local burger joint, the Nasty Burger.

Dawn grimaced at the name. "I hope the food tastes better than it sounds," she said wrinkling her nose at the name.

"As long as the food is edible, I don't care!" Ash exclaimed.

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed agreeably.

When they ordered their food, they didn't notice that three certain employees also worked there. Team Rocket, a group of thieves that steals other people's Pokémon. These three members, however, have been following Ash since they encountered him in Viridian City at the very beginning of his journey. Jessie, the leader of the evil trio, had long magenta colored hair. James, her partner, had lavender hair and was not the brightest of the three. Meowth, the scratch cat Pokémon, was the third member. Unlike most Pokémon, Meowth can stand on his hind legs and speak the English language.

"HEY! I didn't pay you three to lull about!" shouted the manager.

"Y-Y-Yes, sir!" they shouted. They immediately went back to work.

"Do those three workers look familiar to you?" asked a clueless Ash.

"They're kind of weird," said Dawn.

"Pip-Lup!" Piplup agreed.

"You'll get used to it," a voice said.

The trio turned around and came face-to-face with an African American boy with glasses and a red beret.

"What do you mean?" asked Dawn.

"This whole town is weird," said the boy. "It's something that you get used to. By the way, I'm Tucker. Tucker Foley. TF as in 'Too Fine'."

"PIP-LUP!" shouted Piplup as he tried to puff out his chest as far out as he could, trying to intimidate the boy. Dawn sweat-dropped at Tucker's flirting.

"I'm Dawn and this is Piplup," said Dawn.

"I'm Ash and this is my best buddy Pikachu."

"Pikachu!" greeted the yellow mouse.

"I'm Brock, a fellow ladies man," said Brock with a smirk.

"You like girls too?" asked Tucker.

"You know it!" Brock exclaimed excitedly.

Ash and Dawn groaned. Just what they needed: another ladies' man. At least Brock's Croagunk will keep him in line.

"So Tucker, do you train Pokémon?" asked Ash.

"Who doesn't?" Tucker answered. "Everyone in town owns at least one. I'm the proud owner of Porygon2," he said proudly.

"You own a Porygon2?" asked a surprised Ash.

"That's a rare Pokémon to find," Brock added.

"Pika," Pikachu agreed as he licked ketchup from the bottle.

"I'm a techno-geek. It popped out of my computer one day as a Porygon," Tucker explained. "I freaked out and started beating it up with a baseball bat. I then caught it before it could flee back into my computer."

Dawn got out her Poke'dex and entered Porygon2. _**"Porygon2, the Virtual Pokémon and the evolved form of Porygon. With planetary development software installed, it is now capable of working in space."**_

"Wow! A Pokémon capable of going into space!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Pip! Piplup!" said Piplup.

"That's nothing. You should come with me to my friend Danny's house. His family specializes in Ghost Pokémon," said Tucker.

"Wow! I bet there are tons of Pokémon at his house!" Ash exclaimed excitedly. "Does he battle?"

"You bet he does! He's the only kid at school that can handle Ghost Pokémon."

"I'm in! He can help me train for my final Gym Badge," said Ash.

The four left the Nasty Burger and followed Tucker to Danny's house. Team Rocket overheard the conversation and became interested too.

"If what that four-eyed kid is true then his friend's house must be Ghost Pokémon Central!" Jessie said excitedly.

"Maybe we should take a rain check on this one," James said nervously as he remembered their past experiences with Ghost Pokémon. None of them were pretty.

"Don't be such a scaredy Delcatty!" Meowth said to James. "If we follow the twerps to that Ghost trainer's place then we can grab as many of those spooky Pokémon as we can to give to the Boss."

"Not to mention we can grab Pikachu and that Porygon2 Four-Eyes mentioned," Jessie added.

"Wobbuffet!" Jessie's annoying Psychic Pokémon cried out.

"GET BACK TO WORK!" yelled the manager.

~0~0~0~

"Hey Tucker!" a Goth girl called as she approached the group. An Umbreon followed close behind her.

"Hey Sam. Heading to Danny's?" asked Tucker.

"If it means getting away from my parents, yes," said the girl named Sam.

Suddenly, Brock got in-between the two. "My name is Brock but you can call me your boyfriend if you want to – GAH!" Brock's Croagunk popped out of its Pokeball and used Poison Jab on Brock's side. "My dark rose…" he groaned in agony as the poison toad dragged him away.

"And who was that idiot?" said Sam.

"That's just Brock. He's like that with all girls," Dawn explained like it was no big deal. "Oh! I'm Dawn by the way and this is Piplup."

"Piplup!" greeted the little penguin.

"I'm Ash and this is Pikachu."

"Pikachu!"

"Nice to meet you. I'm Sam. Sam Manson and this is my Umbreon, Phantom. Are you guys new here?"

"We're just passing through," said Ash. "We actually want to meet Tucker's friend, Danny. We heard that he's quite the Ghost Pokémon trainer."

"That's his specialty," said Sam matter-of-factly. "His sister prefers Psychic. I should know; her Alakazam is an awesome tutor."

Brock recovered and joined in the conversation. "Do you prefer any type of Pokémon?"

"I don't really care but my favorite type is Dark since I'm Goth," said Sam proudly.

"That would explain the dark clothing," muttered Dawn.

Sam glared at the young Coordinator. "I'm Goth because it makes me an individual in this conservative town! And I have Pokémon to back that up."

Ash got excited again. "Really? What Pokémon do you have?"

"A Houndoom, an Absol and a Grumpig," said Sam. "As well as Phantom, my Umbreon."

"Umbreon!" the Dark Pokémon exclaimed.

"Awesome! Do you think maybe we can battle later?" asked Ash.

"I prefer Contest battles," said Sam.

Tucker burst out laughing. "You HATE Pokémon Contests!"

"I'm not going to enter them to win. I'm going to enter them to make a statement about individualism," Sam defended. She then punched Tucker in the stomach.

"In that case, can I battle you later?" asked Dawn. "I'm trying to get my last Ribbon and I could use all the practice that I can get."

Sam sighed and gave in. "Fine."

"Danny should be willing to battle you, Ash," said Tucker. "Let's go."

* * *

**Well? What do you think? Should I keep going?**

**Danny will be _mostly_ human. He'll have some Phantom-like features, such as the occasional flashing green eyes and rapid healing. Not to mention, he'll be able to understand what Ghost Pokemon are saying! Cool, huh?  
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**To keep up with the Phantom-theme, some of the Pokemon will have nicknames...if that's okay.  
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	2. The Ghost Master

**I'm surprised that so many people liked this story so far! When I posted this story I was afraid people wouldn't like it! I'm so happy you guys are enjoying this! Keep those reviews coming!  
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**Head's up: Danny's Pokemon will have nicknames named after members of the Ghost Zone. Although, Team Rocket will address Danny as the Ghost Kid.  
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**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Danny Phantom or Pokemon! They belong to Butch Hartman and Satoshi Tajiri respectively.  
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**Enjoy!  
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* * *

**Chapter 2**

**The Ghost Master**

At that moment, Danny Fenton was currently in the backyard of his house training his Ghost Pokémon. He raised all of them himself. Communicating with them came naturally to him since he himself is the son of two ghost-hunters. Well, his father hunted ghosts; his mother just wanted to study Ghost Pokémon. She agreed that Danny could keep his Pokémon as long as she could study their behavior and diets.

His normal icy blue eyes flashed neon green as he said, "Lilith! Will O' Wisp!"

Lilith, a Misdreavous, unleashed several tongues of blue fire into the air.

"Now, Psychic attack!"

Lilith's eyes as well as the tongues of fire started to glow blue. The fire then started rotating and joining together to make a shape. Lilith's eyes then started to flicker and lost concentration. Her eyes stopped glowing and the tongues of fire disappeared.

Lilith frowned in disappointment. "Miss…" The little Ghost Pokémon then landed on the ground and sulked.

Danny's eyes faded back to blue as he sighed. He knelt down to the ghost's level and petted it. "Don't worry. You'll get it down eventually."

Lilith looked up. "Dreavous. Misdreavous."

"I want you to master the Flaming Heart before the tournament too but we have to keep practicing if we want to impress Sam by then," said Danny.

Danny has had a big crush on Sam for years. Now that the Founder's Day Festival was around the corner, Danny thought that would be a perfect opportunity to confess his feelings to Sam and ask her out. He wanted to give Lilith to Sam as a way to show her how he felt about her. He knew that Sam wanted to enter Pokémon Contests to show off her Pokémon and her Gothic ways. He thought using Psychic to manipulate a bunch of Will O' Wisps to form a heart would be an excellent combination for a contest. Lilith just recently taught and mastered the move Psychic and Danny saw this as a perfect opportunity. The two have been practicing for weeks and they still haven't gotten it down yet.

"GENGAR!" Danny was suddenly tackled by the Ghost Pokémon, Gengar. The purple ghost started licking Danny's face affectionately.

"Cut it out, Spooky! If you keep this up you're gonna…" Suddenly, Danny couldn't move. "…paralyze me." Gengar, or Spooky, started laughing hysterically.

Danny sighed. "Mom! Spooky did it again!"

A woman in an aqua blue jumpsuit came outside holding a yellow spray bottle. "Spooky! How many times do we have to tell you? No using Lick attack on Danny!"

"Gengar…" Spooky apologized.

Maddie Fenton got down on her knees and started spraying her son. "Honestly! You'd think after ten years, he'd know by now."

Sitting up and checking his limbs for movement, Danny said to his mom, "Spooky's a Ghost Pokémon, Mom. You said so yourself, it's in his nature."

"You've had him since you were seven and he still does that to you. I was hoping he'd just forget that move," said Maddie.

Danny met Gengar as a Gastly when he was seven years old. He was exploring his attic when he found the Ghost Pokémon. At first Danny was afraid of it and it wouldn't leave him alone. One day when a kid was bullying Danny at the park, Gastly appeared and scared the mean kid away. The then-seven-year-old boy named him Spooky and the two have been friends ever since. Now Danny is the proud owner of a Gengar, a Froslass, a Shuppet, a Sableye, a Dusclops, and a Drifblim.

"Maddie! We've got company!" called her husband Jack.

"Coming!" Maddie called back.

Danny stood up and called his Pokémon back into their Pokeballs. He then turned to Lilith. "Lilith, hide!"

"Miss!" Lilith nodded and faded away.

* * *

Our heroes followed the Goth and the techno-geek to a strange brownstone house with what appeared to be a UFO on the roof.

"Uh, are you sure we're at the right house?" asked Brock nervously.

"We've been Danny's best friends for years," said Tucker. "We've been coming to this house since grade school."

"Just to warn you, his family is a little…strange," said Sam. "Everything that's strange there is considered normal for them."

"What do you mean by strange?" asked Dawn.

"You'll know it when you see it," Sam said blankly.

She rang the doorbell and waited. A large man in an orange jumpsuit opened the door. His size intimidated the traveling trainers.

"Hey, Mr. Fenton," Tucker said to the man. "Is Danny home?"

"He's in the backyard training," Jack answered. He eyed the three visitors. "Are these guys here to challenge him?"

"Just me, sir," Ash piped up.

"Pika, Pika," Pikachu added.

The large man smiled. "Well, come on in! While you wait inside, I can blather on about ghosts!"

"Piplup," squeaked Piplup.

"No need to worry, Piplup," Dawn assured her Pokémon. "I'm sure Mr. Fenton meant Ghost _Pokémon_." The three of them followed Sam and Tucker into the house. The interior seemed normal. Nothing strange about that.

"Maddie! We've got company!" Jack called.

"Coming!" a woman called back.

Moments later a woman in an aqua blue jumpsuit entered the room followed by a boy with raven-black hair and icy blue eyes.

"Everyone this is my wife, Maddie, and our son, Danny," said Jack. "And I'm Jack Fenton!"

"I'm Ash and this is my best friend Pikachu."

"Pikachu!"

"I'm Dawn and this is Piplup."

"Piplup!"

"How you doing? I'm Brock."

Danny waved to them. "Nice to meet you. I'm guessing you've already met Tucker and Sam?"

"Yeah, they helped us get here," said Ash.

"Although Brock did try to flirt with me," Sam added.

Danny panicked. "What!"

"No need to worry about Brock," said Dawn. "He always flirts with girls. His Croagunk keeps him in line so he doesn't get far."

Danny then relaxed. "Whew! Thank goodness."

Dawn immediately sensed something between Danny and Sam but kept it to herself.

Ash decided to get right to the point. "I heard that you're quite a Pokémon trainer."

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "I wouldn't say I'm _that_ good," he said modestly.

"Oh, stop it, sweetie," Maddie said to her son. "You're the best Ghost trainer in Amity Park."

Danny blushed in embarrassment. "Mom! Not in front of my friends."

Tucker smirked. "Ash here wants to challenge you to a match…_sweetie_," he said teasingly. Danny glowered at him. Sam did her best to hide her giggling.

"Did I hear someone wanting to challenge my little brother?" a voice asked.

Everyone turned and saw a girl with long red hair come down the stairs. Brock immediately approached her. "May I ask what your name is? It must be a beautiful name for such a beautiful girl – GAH!" Croagunk jabbed Brock's side and dragged him away.

"Don't mind Brock. He does that a lot," said Ash.

"Pi-ka," Pikachu nodded.

"Guys, this is my sister, Jazz," said Danny. "Jazz, this is Ash and Dawn and that guy Croagunk dragged away was Brock."

"Nice to meet you," said Jazz. "So which one of you wanted to challenge my little brother?"

"That would be me!" Ash answered enthusiastically. "I'm training to get my last Gym Badge so I can enter the Sinnoh League."

"You're entering the Sinnoh League? Awesome!" Danny exclaimed. "I accept your challenge!"

"Great! Where should we battle?"

"How about the park?" Sam suggested. "The backyard is too small."

"Perfect," said Jazz. "Shall we get going?"

As the group started toward the door, Danny pulled his mother aside. "Mom, can you keep an eye on Lilith while I'm gone?" Danny asked.

"Of course, Danny," said Maddie. "Is she hiding in your room again?"

"She should be under my bed."

"Dude! Let's get the show on the road!" said Tucker.

"Good luck, sweetie!" Maddie called as the kids left the house. "Jack, why don't you go with them and film it? You know that Misdreavous won't come out if you're nearby."

Jack smiled. "Hey! That's a good idea! It will give something to show to your sister when she comes to visit!" He pulled out a video camera and left the house to catch up with the kids.

* * *

**Hellbreaker: I chose Sinnoh because I haven't played B&W yet so I'm not familiar with the Unova Region. And because I don't watch the show as often as I used to. Not to mention, the show isn't as good without Brock's obnoxious flirting!**

**Fluehatraya: I agree, it's not a DP fic without Danny featuring some ghostly characteristics so I included his glowing eyes and his rapid recovery rate.  
**

**I named Danny's Gengar Spooky because Danny was supposed to have an owl named Spooky. And since there are no Ghost Pokemon that look like owls, Gengar got the name instead.  
**

**Keep those reviews coming to keep my confidence alive! PLEASE!  
**


	3. Ash Vs Danny

**Whew! This chapter took forever to write! I had to keep going to Bulbapedia to see what moves certain Pokemon could do! And there was picking the moves for Danny's Pokemon could use! Some of them will be TM and HM moves by the way!  
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**As I said before, Danny's Pokemon will all have nicknames. Why? Well, that will be explained in the next chapter!  
**

******Okay, people! Danny Fenton vs. Ash Ketchum! Start placing your bets!**  


* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Ash Vs. Danny**

The gang went to Amity Central Park to battle. They found an empty battlefield to use. Ash stood at one end while Danny stood at the other end. Jazz decided to referee the match.

"I'll use the coin toss on my Poketch to see who goes first. Call it," said Dawn. She tapped the screen and the coin flipped.

"Heads," said Ash.

"It's tails. Danny gets to go first."

Jazz walked to the middle of the field. "Alright! This will be a three-on-three match. No substitutions! This battle will end when the trainers' three Pokémon will be unable to battle! Without further ado, begin!" She quickly ran off the field as both boys released their Pokémon.

"Buizel! I choose you!" Ash shouted. An orange weasel with two tails and a yellow collar appeared out of Ash's Pokéball.

"Bui! Bui!" Buizel shouted.

"Wow! I've never seen a Buizel before," said Sam. "I've only seen them in nature documentaries."

Danny's eyes turned green as he threw his Pokéball. "Let's go, Skulker!" A Pokémon that looked like a grey Cyclops came out of Danny's Pokéball.

~0~0~0~

"What is that?" Dawn asked as she pulled out her Pokedex. _**"Dusclops, the Beckon Pokémon and the evolved form of Duskull. Its body is completely hollow. It is believed that those who look into its body will be sucked into a void."**_

Dawn shivered at the thought. "Sounds scary. That Dusclops looks pretty strong…and frightening."

"Pip. Lup," said Piplup.

~0~0~0~

"Ready, Skulker?" Danny asked the Beckon Pokémon.

"Clops!" Skulker responded confidently.

"In that case, let's warm up with a Night Shade!"

A beam of black light fired from the Dusclops's single eye directly at Buizel.

"BUI!"

"Come on, Buizel!" Ash encouraged. "Use Water Gun!"

Buizel shot water directly at Skulker. It didn't seem to do much. In fact, Skulker shook himself dry. He even wiped his hands dry on the ground. This just got Buizel angry.

"Okay then! Use Aqua Jet!" Ash ordered.

Water surrounded the orange weasel and launched himself into the air, aiming towards Skulker.

Danny, however, saw this coming. "Skulker! Use Thunderpunch!"

"Duuuussss-CLOPS!" Electricity ran through Skulker's fist as it made an impact on the oncoming Aqua Jet. Buizel broke out of it and was electrocuted.

"BUIIIIIII!"

Danny wasn't done. "Now! Shadow Punch!"

Dark energy then appeared in Skulker's fist. He hit Buizel directly in the stomach. Buizel may be down but it was not out.

This impressed Danny's friends. "Now THAT is what I call determination," Sam stated.

"Buizel is known to love battling and it doesn't like to go down that easily," Brock explained.

Seeing that his orange friend wasn't going to give up, Ash made his next move. "Alright, Buizel! Use Water Pulse!"

A sphere of water appeared in Buizel's paws. He launched it directly at Skulker, doing major damage. Next thing Danny knew, it was doing the Hokie Pokie!

~0~0~0~

Danny's eyes returned to blue in shock. "What the?"

"Why is Skulker doing the Hokie Pokie?" asked a bemused Tucker.

"Sometimes a Pokémon becomes confused when it gets hit by Water Pulse," Brock explained. "Sometimes the Pokémon hurts itself or, in Skulker's case, dance."

Sam and Tucker looked at each other and shared a smirk.

"The confusion shouldn't last long then," Sam said confidently.

"What do you mean?" asked Dawn.

"Let's just say Danny has a little trick up his sleeve," Tucker said with as much confidence as Sam.

Dawn and Brock exchanged bemused looks and continued watching the match.

~0~0~0~

Danny's eyes flashed green again. "Skulker! SNAP OUT OF IT!" It took a moment but the ghostly Cyclops came back to its senses. "Let's wrap this up with a Dark Pulse!" A sphere of black rings started to form in Skulker's hands. It then launched it at Buizel. When the smoke cleared, Buizel was knocked out.

Jazz then approached the sidelines. "Buizel is unable to battle! Skulker the Dusclops wins!" Sam, Tucker, Phantom and Jack cheered. Danny gave Skulker a high-five but the Ghost Pokémon gave its trainer a bear hug instead.

"Way to go, son!" Jack cheered as he recorded the entire battle on his camera.

Ash called Buizel back into its Pokéball. "Thank you, Buizel. You've earned a good rest."

"Alright Ash. Since you lost a Pokémon, you get to move first," said Jazz.

Ash then looked down at Pikachu. "You wanna give it a shot, Pikachu?"

The yellow mouse smiled. "Pika, pika!" It ran onto the field.

"Begin!" Jazz shouted.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash ordered.

Sparks appeared on the electric rodent's cheeks. "PIIIIKKKAAA-CHHUUUUUU!" The attack did more damage to Skulker. When the attack wore off, the grey Cyclops looked worn out.

~0~0~0~

"Yo! What gives?" asked Tucker. "How can one Thunderbolt do heavy duty damage to Skulker?"

"Yeah," said Jack. "He seemed fine a minute ago."

Sam pondered the question when she noticed Danny's t-shirt. It was slightly wet. Remembering that Buizel's Water Pulse soaked Skulker and then remembered him hugging Danny and making him damp.

"Buizel's Water Pulse!" Sam realized. "Pikachu's Thunderbolt must have done more damage than usual because Skulker is wet."

"That's clever," said Dawn.

"It's a good strategy," said Tucker.

Jack and Brock nodded in agreement.

~0~0~0~

Danny's eyes flashed brighter. "Skulker! Dark Pulse!"

The sphere of black rings appeared again in the Dusclops's hands. He then launched it at Pikachu.

"Pikachu! Dodge it and use Iron Tail!" commanded Ash. Pikachu leapt into the air, dodging the attack. His lightning-shaped tail started glowing.

"Piiiii-KAAA!" Pikachu's tail landed squarely on Skulker's head. He landed face first into the ground, completely knocked out.

Jazz returned to the sidelines. "Skulker the Dusclops is unable to battle. Pikachu wins!"

Danny's eyes returned to blue. "Skulker, you okay?"

"Dusk…clops," Skulker answered weakly as he gave his trainer a thumbs-up.

Danny smiled. "Great job. Take a break," he said as he called his Pokémon back into its Pokéball.

~0~0~0~

Dawn, Brock and Piplup cheered. "Way to go, Ash!" Dawn cheered.

"Piplup! Piplup!" Piplup cheered.

Sam and Tucker cringed.

"That Pikachu may be cute but I don't think I'd want to fight it," said Tucker.

"For once I agree," said Sam. "Danny's going to have to pick carefully on his next Pokémon if he wants to beat this guy. Ash looks like he's really experienced in battle."

"Not to mention Danny's used to fighting against our Pokémon and Jazz's. This could be good practice for the tournament," said Tucker.

The mentioning of the tournament got Dawn and Brock's attention.

"There's a tournament coming up?" Dawn asked Sam.

"The Founder's Day Festival is coming up. A tournament is held every year as a part of it," Sam explained. "Danny's dreamed of winning the tournament for years. That way, kids at school will stop picking on him."

"I see. It's a way of showing his peers that he's just as strong as they are," Brock realized.

"Everyone picks on him because his parents are ghost hunters. By 'hunters' I mean researchers," Tucker quickly added before Dawn and Brock could jump to conclusions.

~0~0~0~

Jazz turned to her brother. "Danny, you get to go first now."

Danny's eyes flashed green again. "Spectra! Front and center!" A white Pokémon that looked like a snow woman came out of its Pokéball.

"Frosssss…lassssssss…"

"Begin!" Jazz shouted.

"Spectra, use Confuse Ray!" ordered Danny.

"Fros…" Spectra's eyes glowed bright blue. The next thing Ash knew, Pikachu became confused.

Ash cringed at the sight of his confused yellow friend. "Pikachu! Snap out of it!" It wasn't working. "Augh! How did Danny get Skulker to snap out of his confusion so quickly?"

Danny smirked confidently. "That's for me to know and for you to find out later. Now, Spectra use Blizzard!"

A blizzard blew out of Spectra's mouth. Pikachu was blown back at the full force of the attack. Luckily, it snapped him out of his confusion.

"Alright! Pikachu's back to normal!" Ash exclaimed. "Okay, Pikachu use Volt Tackle!"

Pikachu charged at Spectra, electricity began enveloping his body. "Pika, pikapikapikapikapikaPIKA!" Direct hit. Spectra was blown back a few feet at the force of the attack.

"Spectra!" Danny called in concern. The Froslass managed to get back on its feet (even though it didn't have feet). "You okay?"

"Lass," Spectra nodded.

Danny took a look at Pikachu. It looked tired but it also still had some fire left in it. "Let's try this at another angle, Spectra. Use Double Team!" Spectra's body glows white briefly and several copies appear, surrounding the electric rodent. "Finish it off with an Ice Beam!" The real Spectra then fired a bright blue beam at Pikachu's back, knocking him out. The Froslass copies disappeared.

Jazz once again returned to the sidelines. "Pikachu is unable to battle! Spectra the Froslass is the winner!"

Sam, Tucker, Jack and Phantom once again cheered for Danny.

Ash ran onto the field and picked up his best friend. "Pikachu are you okay?"

Pikachu smiled weakly. "Pika-pi," he replied.

Sam walked over to Ash. "I grow a bunch of plants in my greenhouse at home. I've made some remedies that can make your Pikachu as good as new."

Ash smiled at the offer. "Sure. Thanks." He handed Pikachu over to the violet-eyed Goth. She then walked back to the stands and got out potions and other medicines from her backpack. She then went to work.

Jazz turned to Ash again. "Your turn to go first again, Ash. Remember this is your third and final Pokémon so choose wisely," she advised.

Ash smiled. "Don't worry about that. I choose Monferno!" A monkey with a fiery tail popped out of its Pokéball.

"Ferno!" it cried.

Tucker's face lit up. "A monkey Pokémon? Sweet!"

"Are you sure you're not related to a monkey?" Sam asked as she spread disinfectant on Pikachu's tail. Tucker sneered at her.

"So Ash chose Monferno as his third, huh?" said Dawn.

Brock nodded. "Good choice. It gives him a type advantage. I hope Monferno can hold out against Danny's third Pokémon."

"Go!" Jazz shouted.

"Now Monferno! Dig!" Ash ordered. The fire monkey dove into the ground. Spectra looked around wondering where Monferno would resurface.

"Where did that monkey go?" Danny asked himself. He suddenly got an idea. "Spectra, use Double Team quickly!"

Spectra tried to make copies of herself but it was too late. "MOOOONNNN-FERNO!" Monferno resurfaced directly underneath Spectra making her take massive damage.

"Spectra!" Danny yelled.

"F-F-Fross…lass…," she said as she got back up.

"Come on, Spectra! Use Blizzard!" Another snowstorm blew out of Spectra's mouth.

"Monferno! Dodge and use Flamethrower!" Ash ordered. Fire spewed out of Monferno's mouth. It hit Spectra directly in her chest. She tried to stay standing but she suddenly fell, unable to go on any further.

Danny's eyes changed back to blue in surprise. "Spectra! No!"

"Spectra the Froslass is unable to battle! Monferno wins!" announced Jazz.

Danny gave Spectra a small smile. "Don't beat yourself up, Spectra. Take a break."

"Fr-Fr-Frosslass. Froslass," said the Ice Pokémon. Danny nodded and called Spectra back into its Pokéball.

Ash's friends cheered for another win. The score was now two to two. The next win will determine the victor. Everyone in both groups was feeling nervous. They wanted their respective member to win. You could feel the tension.

Danny thought long and hard about which Pokémon he'd choose next. Monferno was obviously a Fire type but he was also a Fighting type. That's it!

Danny's eyes glowed green as he threw his Pokéball. "Let's go, Vortex!" A purple balloon-shaped Pokémon appeared from the Pokéball.

Dawn's eyes grew wide. "Wow! He has a Drifblim!"

"I wonder how this Drifblim is different from Fantina's Drifblim," wondered Brock.

Jazz turned to her brother. "Alright, Danny. You go first. Go!"

"Vortex, use Shadow Ball!" Danny ordered.

A black sphere, sparking with purple energy, appeared in front of Drifblim. He launched it at Monferno.

"Monferno, dodge and use Flamethrower!" Ash yelled. The monkey jumped over the Shadow Ball and flames erupted from his mouth.

Danny's eyes flashed brighter. "Vortex! Dodge and then use Ominous Wind!"

Vortex floated up in the air a little, although the attack did graze it a little. Its purple arms flapped and purple wind blew straight at Monferno. The Ominous Wind blew Monferno back a few feet.

"Okay Monferno, use Fire Spin!" yelled Ash. Monferno unleashed a spiral of fire from its mouth.

"Vortex! Protect!" Danny ordered. A barrier appeared in front of the balloon Pokémon protecting it completely from the Fire Spin.

This caught Monferno and Ash off guard. "What the?"

"Now! Fly!" Drifblim rocketed into the sky until it was in the clouds. The battlefield suddenly became quiet.

Ash took this opportunity to save Monferno from a one-hit knockout. "Monferno, use Dig!" Monferno dove into the ground again.

Danny didn't seem too concerned. He checked his watch and waited some more. He then shouted, "VORTEX! USE PROTECT BEFORE YOU HIT THE GROUND!"

Vortex came back down to earth at a breakneck speed. The Protect barrier was protecting him. He crash-landed on the battlefield causing the ground to shake. Monferno popped out of the ground like the cork of a wine bottle.

"Vortex! Quick! Use Ominous Wind!" Danny ordered. Vortex flapped his arms again and purple wind hit Monferno before he hit the ground, knocking the monkey out cold.

"Monferno is unable to battle!" Jazz announced. "Vortex the Drifblim is the winner and the victor of this battle is Danny!"

Danny's friends and father cheered. Sam ran to Danny and embraced him, causing him to blush as his eyes faded back to blue.

"Nice going, son!" Jack exclaimed. "Your mother is going to be so proud!"

"Way to go, dude!" said Tucker as he gave his best friend a high-five.

"Thanks guys," said Danny. "Nice job, Vortex! You finally mastered that combination Sam taught you."

"Drif-blim," Vortex said modestly as it scratched the back of its head with one of its four arms.

Danny then walked up to Ash.

"Thanks a lot, Monferno," he said to his Fire Pokémon. "You've earned a good rest." With that, he called Monferno back into its Pokéball.

"Is your Monferno going to be okay?" Danny asked Ash.

The Pokémon trainer smiled. "Yeah, he'll be fine. You're a pretty good trainer."

Danny smiled back. "You're not so bad yourself."

The two then gave each other a friendly handshake.

* * *

**You know I'm not good with battle scenes so please be nice! Make sure you review!**


	4. Team Rocket!

**Glad you guys are enjoying this! No Pokemon fic is complete without Team Rocket making some kind of appearance! I loved writing this chapter!  
**

**Sam, Jazz, and Tucker will be doing some battling in this chapter! Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Team Rocket!**

Team Rocket followed Ash and his friends the park where they watched an intense battle. The boy with the glasses wasn't kidding. This Ghost kid was strong!

"Do you really think we'll be able to steal that Ghost Twerp's Pokémon from right under his nose?" asked James. "I don't like the way that Dusclops looked at the twerp's Buizel!"

"You don't have to worry about looking at it, as long as we steal it!" Jessie snapped at James.

"Besides, that kid has a little trick of some kind," Meowth pointed out. "Look at the Ghost Twerp's eyes. Mind telling me how they went from green to blue and vice versa? And don't tell me it's a trick of the light."

The two humans squinted their eyes to get a closer look at Danny. Sure enough, his eyes were glowing neon green. They've seen him enough times during their shifts at the Nasty Burger (which they got fired from, by the way) to know that his eyes were blue. How did that happen?

"Maybe the kid's eyes change color in sunlight?" guessed James.

"That kid obviously has some kind of telepathic powers or something!" Jessie concluded. "We've seen it happen enough times to know how to spot it."

James shivered in fright. "Then maybe we should back off and leave the Ghost Twerp alone!" he exclaimed in fear.

"Wob-buffet!" exclaimed the blue Psychic Pokémon.

"Then let's just grab Pikachu and that Umbreon over there and skedaddle," said Meowth.

~0~0~0~

Meanwhile, Sam was patching up all of the Pokémon injured in the battle. Brock was taking notes on some of the ingredients used in some of Sam's remedies. He didn't try to flirt with Sam again, especially since Phantom the Umbreon was giving him a death glare.

Everyone else, however, were getting to know each other while their Pokémon played. Dawn was looking at two of Danny's Pokémon with her Pokedex.

_**"Shuppet, the Puppet Pokémon. Shuppet loves vengeful emotions and hangs in rows under the eaves of houses where vengeful people live.**_

_** "Sableye, the Darkness Pokémon. Sableye hides in the darkness of caves. Its diet of gems has transformed its eyes into gemstones."**_

"Wow! These guys are pretty creepy-looking," Dawn stammered.

Danny walked up to her. "What did you expect? They are Ghost Pokémon. That's Youngblood, my Shuppet. And that's Bertrand, my Sableye."

"Shuppet, pet!" The Puppet Pokémon floated to Danny's eyelevel and nuzzled his face.

"I know, I know. I love you too, Youngblood," Danny said casually to the Shuppet called Youngblood. He then floated away to continue playing with Bertrand and the others.

"Out of curiosity, why do you give your Pokémon nicknames?" Dawn asked curiously.

"Well, originally Spooky, my Gengar, was the going to be the only one with a nickname," Danny explained. "But then Sam inspired me to give all my Pokémon nicknames to make them 'individuals' as she would call it."

"You like her, don't you?" Dawn asked slyly.

That caught Danny off guard. "What? No, I dont'! What makes you say that?"

"Well, you panicked when she told you that Brock tried to flirt with her, you blushed when she gave you a hug when you won the battle, and what you told me just now were enough hints to convince me," Dawn explained.

Danny blushed a deep red. "Yeah, it's true. There are times when I wonder if she feels the same way about me. We've been friends since second grade and we've been inseparable since. I want to tell her how I feel at the Founder's Day Festival. And I'm going to do it by having a Misdreavous I recently caught do a combination of Will O' Wisp and Psychic but we haven't gotten it down yet."

Dawn's face lit up. "Combination? Sam said she wanted to be a Coordinator."

"Yeah, so?"

"Vortex did that Fly-Protect combination at the end of the battle, right?"

"Yeah. Sam taught it to us," said Danny.

"You want to make a special Contest combination just for her!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Yes. I make Lilith – that's the Misdreavous I mentioned – use Will O' Wisp to make a bunch of blue fire appear. Then she'd use Psychic to manipulate the blue fire to make the shape of a heart," Danny explained blushing.

"Well, maybe I can help!" Dawn offered. "I've dealt with difficult combinations before so I'll be able to help you and Lilith. No need to worry, Danny. You just leave it to me!"

Danny smiled. "Thanks, Dawn. I'll show you Lilith some time later."

Suddenly, Dawn's hat was ripped from her head. She screamed in surprise. The hat suddenly landed on Danny's head. He frowned.

"Spooky! Come out," Danny ordered. A Gengar appeared out of thin air laughing hysterically.

"Gengar gar gar gar!" Spooky laughed.

"Is this Spooky?" asked Dawn as Danny gave her hat back.

"Yep. This is my very first Pokémon Spooky. I've had him since he was a Gastly that was living in my attic," said Danny.

"Gar. Gengar, Gengar," said Spooky.

Danny readily frowned. "Your best friend, yes. Henchman, no," said Danny.

"Gen, gen, Gengar."

"I'm your trainer, not your henchman!"

Dawn interrupted the weird conversation. "Do you understand what he's saying, Danny?"

Danny looked at her. "Uh, yeah. For some strange reason I can understand what Ghost Pokémon are saying."

"Gen-gar. Gengar," said Spooky.

Danny growled at the Ghost Pokémon. "I was eight! You told me it was water! Augh! Back into your Pokéball!" Gengar vanished inside its Pokéball.

Dawn sweat-dropped. "Uh, mind telling me what he's saying?"

"When he was still a Gastly, we were playing in the backyard and I got thirsty. I wasn't tall enough to get a glass of water myself so Gastly and I went to my parents' basement lab to find them. I saw a beaker of what appeared to be water. My parents told me to NEVER drink from the beakers but Spooky told me that it should be all right but I was reluctant. Spooky _insisted_ that it was water," Danny explained.

"What was it?" asked Dawn.

"Ectoplasm from my mom's Rotom," Danny explained. "I spent a month in the hospital."

"And you've been able to understand Pokémon ever since?"

"Just Ghost Pokémon. I've tried communicating with my dad's Munchlax but all I got from him was gibberish," Danny explained. At this point, the rest of the group was listening to Danny's little tale (Jack went back home). Danny quickly called his newly healed team members back.

"Does that also explain your eyes glowing?" asked Ash.

Danny laughed nervously. "I was wondering if you noticed that."

"Your eyes glowed bright enough for us to see from the sidelines, Danny," said Sam. "Not that hard to miss."

"Sable, Sableye," said Bertrand nodding.

"Care to share your secret?" asked Brock.

"Whenever my eyes glow, my mind intertwines with my Pokémon's," Danny explained. "In battle, I discuss battle strategies with them, mentally. That's how I copied your 'dodge-and-attack' strategy, Ash. After you beat Spectra, she told me to try using your strategy to win before I called her back. That's how I beat you."

Ash's eyes widened. "That's amazing! So that's how Skulker was able to snap out of confusion so quickly."

"To be able to adapt your battle strategies to match your opponents' and use it against them is a pretty good strategy in itself," Brock remarked.

"Pika-Pika," said Pikachu.

"Shup-pet, Shup!" reminded Youngblood.

That got Danny's attention. "Oh right! You guys want to see Tucker's Porygon2?"

Everyone agreed excitedly.

"Come on out, Porygon2!" Tucker called out. A pink and blue Pokémon appeared in a flash of light.

"Porygon!" it cried.

"It's not much of a fighter, but it can still pack a punch when it wants to," Tucker explained. He poured a glass of water and set it on a nearby picnic table. Porygon2 approached the glass of water and dipped its beak into the glass. Tucker started laughing. "Check it out! I taught it to do the drinking bird trick!"

The whole gang started laughing. Suddenly, a gust of wind sucked up Pikachu, Phantom, Porygon2, Piplup, Bertrand and Youngblood into the containment chamber of a huge robot.

"Pikachu!" Ash shouted.

"Piplup!" Dawn shouted in panic.

"No! Phantom!" Sam cried.

"Porygon2!" Tucker called.

"Youngblood! Bertrand!" yelled Danny.

A trio of evil laughter was heard from the robot. "What's going on?" asked Jazz.

"Who are these guys?" asked Danny.

"Don't tell me…" moaned Ash.

Three figures appeared at the top of the robot.

"Listen, is that a ghostly voice I hear?" said the first figure.

"It's filling my heart with fear!" cried a frightened second figure.

"On the wind," said the first.

"P-Past the stars," stuttered the second.

"In your ear!" added a third figure.

"Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace…"

"Dashing hope and putting a different fear in its place…"

"A rose by any other name is just as sweet…"

"When everything's worse, our work is complete…"

"Jessie!"

"J-James," he whimpered.

"Meowth's the name!"

"Putting the do-gooders in their place…"

"We're Team Rocket…"

"And we're in your face!" the trio finished.

"Wobbu-Wobbu!"

"Mime! Mime!" added a Mime Jr.

"Team Rocket!" cried the traveling trio.

"Aren't those the new guys from the Nasty Burger?" asked Tucker.

Sam looked at them, bemused. "Team who?"

"Team Edward?" asked Danny.

"Team Jacob?" asked Jazz.

That got Meowth angry. "Grrr… That's Team ROCKET! We are _way_ better than a vampire or a werewolf!"

"Team Rocket is a group of thieves that steal people's Pokémon," Dawn explained.

"And now we have more than enough Pokémon to give to the Boss," Jessie exclaimed excitedly.

"Give back our Pokémon now!" Danny yelled.

"Not on your afterlife, Ghost Twerp!" yelled Meowth.

Ash was about to go into battle when Tucker, Sam and Jazz stopped him. "Danny's not the only one who can battle," said Jazz.

The three teens pulled out their Pokéballs.

Jazz threw hers first. "I choose Noctowl!"

Tucker threw his next. "I pick Bastiodon!"

Sam threw hers last. "I pick Shadow!"

In three flashes of light, three Pokémon that looked like an owl, a dinosaur-like creature, and a panther-like creature appeared.

Dawn, who has never seen the panther-like Pokémon before, pulled out her Poke'dex. _**"Absol, the Disaster Pokémon. It senses coming disasters and appears before people only to warn them of the impending danger."**_

"I wonder if Team Rocket can handle three Pokémon at once," said Dawn.

"We're not afraid of those wimpy Pokémon!" Meowth exclaimed. The trio jumped into the robot. The machine's arms tried to crush our heroes but they managed to avoid them. A vacuum hose appeared and tried to suck up the three Pokémon.

"Everyone!" Tucker shouted. "Get behind Bastiodon! He'll block the suction with his body!" The trainers did so. Bastiodon braced himself against the vacuum's suction.

"You think an overgrown bulldozer is going to protect you?" Jessie asked angrily.

Sam jumped out from her hiding spot. "That's what you think! Shadow! Use Razor Wind on that vacuum hose!"

The horn on the Absol's head glowed white. Absol, or Shadow, swung his head and a blade of white energy sliced the hose clean off the robot.

"Nice job, Shadow!" Sam complimented.

"Ab…sol," Shadow replied.

"How dare you damage our machine, you Goth freak!" Jessie yelled.

"This thing didn't come cheap you know!" James added.

Jazz stepped out from behind Bastiodon. "My turn. Noctowl! Use Sky Attack to free the other Pokémon!" The Owl Pokémon flew towards the robot. A small window was displayed on the robot's torso where the other Pokémon were held captive. As Noctowl gained speed, its body began glowing with a white aura. Upon impacting the window, the glass shattered freeing the captive Pokémon. They all ran to their respective trainers.

"Piplup! Thank goodness you're alright!" Dawn exclaimed in relief.

"Pika-pi!" Pikachu called as he ran to Ash.

"Pikachu! Are you okay?"

"Pika, pika!" Pikachu assured Ash with a victory sign.

Sam embraced Phantom. "You're not hurt, are you Phantom?"

"Um-breon!" Phantom answered confidently.

Danny held up two Pokéballs. "Youngblood, Bertrand return!" The two Ghost Pokémon disappeared into their Pokéballs. He put them in his pocket.

"Porygon2! You're alright!" Tucker cried as he gave the pink and blue Pokémon a tight squeeze. He called it back into its Pokéball and pocketed it. He then pulled out his PDA. "Now to go into techno-geek mode." He started pressing some buttons.

~0~0~0~

"What is Four-Eyes doing? Checking e-mail?" wondered James.

"Quit gawking and help us get those Pokémon back!" snapped Meowth. He pressed a button but nothing happened. "Hey! What gives?"

Jessie looked at the computer screen. She paled. "Aaaaaahhhhhh! We've been hacked!"

"Hacked? How could that happen?" asked James.

"Why didn't we have software protection?" asked Jessie.

"Oops," squeaked a certain Scratch Cat Pokémon.

Both Jessie and James immediately knew what that meant.

"You didn't buy software protection?" Jessie yelled.

"You've left us at the mercy of every computer geek in the region!" added James.

"Don't blame me!" defended Meowth. "It cost extra and I could only afford the robot!" Before the two thieves had a chance to strangle the cat, the robot jolted to the side. "What was that?" asked Meowth.

~0~0~0~

Outside, Tucker's Bastiodon was using Take Down to knock the robot over and bring Team Rocket out of hiding. The robot toppled over and the three thieves fell out.

"We're not giving up without a fight!" declared Jessie. "Seviper, teach these twerps a lesson!" A snake-like Pokémon with red fangs appeared.

"Seviper!" it hissed.

"Carnivine! You too!" yelled James as he threw his Pokéball.

_CHOMP!_ A Venus flytrap Pokémon started chewing on James's head! "What is it about my head you find so appetizing?" James yelled.

Danny's eyes glowed an angry green. He pulled out a Pokéball and then turned to Ash. "Wanna do a double-battle with these idiots?"

"You know it!" Ash exclaimed. "Ready, Pikachu?"

"Pika!"

Danny threw his Pokéball. "Going ghost! Spooky!"

"Gengar!" Spooky cried as he appeared. He turned and started licking Danny's face affectionately.

"Quit treating my face like a lollipop and help Pikachu out!" Danny cried. It immediately stopped and joined Pikachu in battle.

"Seviper, use Poison Tail!" ordered Jessie.

"Carnivine! Use Bullet Seed!" yelled James.

Carnivine shot multiple seeds at the Ghost and the Mouse Pokémon but they were ready. Both jumped out of the way. Seviper's Poison Tail hit Spooky's head, but since Spooky is both Ghost and Poison Type, it did little damage. In fact, it made Spooky ticked off.

"Spooky! Use Night Shade on Seviper!" ordered Danny.

"And Pikachu! Use Volt Tackle!" yelled Ash.

Spooky blasted the giant snake away from him using dark energy from his eyes while Pikachu, fully charged, sprinted towards Carnivine. Both snake and plant were blown back to their masters.

"Now Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!"

"Spooky! Use Dark Pulse!"

"PIIIIIIKKKAAAAA-CHUUUUUU!"

"GEEEEEENNNNN-GAAAARRRR!"

The combination of Thunderbolt and Dark Pulse was strong enough to make the robot explode and send Team Rocket off into the sky.

"That Ghost Twerp really was terrifying!" wailed James.

"Not as terrifying as his Gengar!" Jessie added.

"Even in this fanfiction were being blasted off," mumbled Meowth.

"Wob-buffet!" agreed Wobbuffet.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again…"

"Wobbuffet…"

* * *

**HAHAHA! I loved writing the end! Well, I've named every one of Danny's Pokemon.**

**I gave Tucker a Bastiodon as a little shout-out to the Sphinx from the episode 'King Tuck'. Bastiodon was the closest I could find that was Steel-type. Since Tucker's a techno-geek, I figured Pokemon that were either Steel or Electric would fit him.  
**

**I named Sam's Absol Shadow after Johnny 13's Shadow. I think it fit him. People _used_ to think that Absol caused disasters so there you have it. Any questions?  
**

**Keep reviewing or I will unleash my bubble wrap of doom! :P  
**


	5. What Danny Means to Them

**Aaahhhh! I love background stories! It gives me a chance to understand the character more.  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**What Danny Means to Them**

The gang went back to Fenton Works where they told Jack and Maddie what happened at the park. Maddie seemed shocked that a group of crooks would want to harm her children or their Pokémon. Jack, however, was bummed that he didn't get the battle on camera. Ash and his friends were offered to stay for a few nights until after the festival. Dawn was quick to accept their offer.

After a horrific dinner (Rotom caused mayhem in the kitchen again), the kids decided to feed their Pokémon in the backyard. Midway through feeding time, however, Danny grabbed a spare bowl, filled it with some of Brock's homemade Pokémon food, and went inside.

Dawn, seeing this, turned to Jazz. "Where is Danny going?"

"He's probably going to feed Lilith, a Misdreavous he caught a few months ago," Jazz assumed. "I swear! I've never seen him train a Pokémon as much as Lilith. In fact, I haven't seen him put this much effort into training since he caught Skulker as a Duskull. And that's only because Tucker was afraid to go near it. You should have seen both their faces when he evolved. Danny was ecstatic while Tucker was so scared he wet his pants!"

Both girls laughed at that story. As soon as Jazz calmed down, she gave a Poffin to her Alakazam.

"Here you go, Alakazam," said Jazz.

"Ala!" thanked Alakazam.

Dawn noticed how close the girl and her Pokémon were. "You two seem pretty close."

"Alakazam was my first Pokémon. Mom brought him home from her sister's place. My Aunt Alicia and my mom found him as an Abra sleeping in Aunt Alicia's rhubarb garden. My mom threw a Pokéball at it before it had a chance to Teleport to safety."

"What was Abra doing in your aunt's rhubarb garden?" asked Dawn.

"You don't wanna know," Jazz answered dully. "Anyway, a few years after it became a Kadabra, Danny was wondering how to evolve Spooky, who was a Haunter at the time, into a Gengar. We both looked it up and learned that both Pokémon could evolve through trading. So we agreed that we would temporary trade our Pokémon to each other so they could evolve and then trade back. The plan worked! Both our Pokémon were pretty happy about it too."

Dawn smiled. "That's a nice story. Is it true that Alakazam is a good tutor?"

Jazz giggled. "You know it! Without him, Danny would have flunked out of school a long time ago."

"Ala-Alakazam," Alakazam nodded.

"What about your Noctowl? I thought you preferred Psychic," said Dawn.

"Noctowl are known to be very intelligent. Unlike what Danny and his friends told you, I raise Pokémon that are highly intelligent. Most just happen to fall under the Psychic category," Jazz explained.

"Is it true that Danny has feelings for Sam?" Dawn whispered.

Jazz giggled. "It's pretty obvious isn't it? No matter what people say, they'll probably deny it."

Dawn shook her head. "Actually, I kind of forced Danny to admit it," she said nervously.

Jazz's eyes widened. "Wow! That's a first. I never thought I'd live to hear Danny admit his feelings for Sam to someone."

Dawn nodded. "He wants to admit his feelings to Sam but he's too nervous to actually say it to her. So he's training Lilith to do a combination of Will O' Wisp and Psychic to help him admit his feelings to Sam."

"That explains why he's spending so much time with Lilith," said Jazz. "He's always been shy about these kinds of things."

"Well, I'm a Pokémon Coordinator so Danny asked me to help him out," Dawn said confidently.

Jazz smiled. "Thanks Dawn. This will really help Danny."

~0~0~0~

While Dawn and Jazz were talking, Sam was getting to know Ash and Pikachu. The remedies that Sam gave to Pikachu helped him recover quickly as well as his other Pokémon.

"Pika-Pikachu!" Pikachu thanked Sam. He gave the Goth trainer a Poffin that Dawn made (Ash stinks at cooking).

Sam smiled. "Thank you for the Poffin," Sam said to the yellow mouse. She gave the Poffin to Phantom who quickly ate it. "How is it, Phantom?"

"Breon-Umbreon," Phantom said with a smile.

"You're really close to Phantom, aren't you?" said Ash.

"Yeah. My parents gave me Phantom for my tenth birthday. They bought him while they were away on a business trip in Celadon City. He was only an Eevee at the time," said Sam.

"Did you want him to be an Umbreon?" asked Ash.

Sam shrugged. "I didn't know what to evolve him into. I didn't even give him a nickname until he evolved. I went to Danny for help. See if he could help me pick an evolution, you know. We looked through his sister's books and we found a picture of an Umbreon and I immediately knew that's what I wanted."

"So how did you come up with the name Phantom?" asked Ash.

"Danny and I were watching 'Phantom of the Opera' when Danny suggested it," Sam explained. "I thought it was suitable and I've stuck with the name ever since."

"It sounds like you guys are really close," Ash remarked.

Sam readily blushed. "What! No! We're just friends! Why does everyone always assume that? Listen to me babble! I'm such a spazz!"

"Pika?" Pikachu asked with a knowing smirk on his face as he leaned closer to Sam.

"Watch it, you little yellow runt," Sam threatened.

Pikachu paled. "Pi? Pika-pi!" He ran and hid behind Ash.

"Uh, you're not serious, are you?" Ash asked nervously.

"He better quit it or we'll see how serious I am."

"Uh, got it," Ash replied anxiously with a sweat-drop.

~0~0~0~

"So Tucker, how did you get a Bastiodon?" asked Brock as his Happiny watched Porygon2 dip its beak repeatedly into a glass of water. "Pokémon like that can only come from fossils."

"Our 7th grade class went digging for fossils," said Tucker. "A lot of kids weren't having much luck finding one. Danny managed to find a Moon Stone. He was pretty excited about it since he wants to be an astronaut. I was ready to throw in the towel but Danny refused to let me go home until we've found something for me to bring back as a souvenir. After an hour of digging, I finally found an Armor Fossil. Our classmates were so jealous. Some even offered to trade their findings for mine."

Brock laughed. "Anyone would want a Pokémon fossil. When did you bring it to life?"

Tucker thought about it for a moment. "Later that summer. My parents took me to Oreburgh City just for the occasion. Danny and Sam were freaking out when I came home with a Shieldon. Sam especially since she's all about endangered species and the environment."

"How long have the three of you been friends?" asked Brock.

"Danny and I have been friends for as long as either of us can remember. We became friends with Sam in the second grade," said Tucker.

"That's pretty impressive."

"What about Ash and Dawn? How long have the three of you known each other?" asked Tucker.

"I've been friends with Ash since he challenged me at the Pewter City Gym. I used to be a Gym Leader there. I left the Gym so I can pursue my dream to be the world's best Pokémon breeder," said Brock.

"Who took over the Gym after you left?" asked Tucker.

"My dad took over. Ash and I met Dawn recently. I went back to Pewter City for a while and Ash went to Sinnoh to collect all the Gym Badges and compete in the Sinnoh League. However, Team Rocket happened and Ash and Pikachu got separated. Luckily Dawn found Pikachu and went to look for his Trainer. After another encounter with Team Rocket, the three of us have been traveling together ever since."

Tucker whistled. "Now THAT'S a story! Nothing like any of us has been through."

"It sounds like you and Danny are pretty close too," said Brock. "He seems to care a lot about you guys and his Pokémon."

Tucker nodded. "And his Pokémon care a lot about him too. They're always looking out for him. I'm thinking it's because he's able to communicate with them better with his abilities."

"That's pretty useful for him to use those abilities to help train his Pokémon," Brock remarked.

~0~0~0~

After Sam and Tucker went home, Danny and our heroes soon went to bed. Ash and his friends slept in the guest room in the Ops Center. As strange as the Fentons were, they were pretty nice. Danny and Jazz seemed to be the most normal…mainly Jazz.

Team Rocket poked their heads over the backyard fence. No matter how many times Ash and his friends beat them, they refused to quit until they had Pikachu in their hands. Now they had to figure out how to infiltrate Fenton Works without waking anyone up.

James was the most reluctant to be there. "Can't we come back when it's daytime?" he whimpered.

"You seriously need to grow some backbone," Jessie snapped.

"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet agreed.

"And you call yourself a man," said Meowth.

"I just find Ghost Pokémon more enjoyable in sunlight," James defended.

A small flash of blue light caught their eye. They turned and saw a Misdreavus surrounded by multiple blue tongues of fire. Its eyes then glowed bright blue as well as the fire. They then shifted and rotated to form a shape. Unfortunately, Misdreavous lost its concentration and its eyes returned to normal. The tongues of fire then disappeared before the shape was completed. The little Ghost Pokémon then landed on the ground and sulked.

"Wow. Talk about low self-esteem," James commented.

"That looked like a Contest combination," Jessie noted.

"This doesn't make sense," said Meowth. "We saw all six of the Ghost Twerp's Pokémon today. What's a seventh doing here?"

"Maybe he rotates them occasionally?" James guessed.

"Meowth, why don't you go talk to it?" said Jessie. "Maybe it will help us get inside."

Meowth sighed. "Why do I always do the talking?" he asked himself as he jumped off the fence and into the yard.

The Misdreavous noticed Meowth and became nervous. "M-M-Miss…"

Meowth held up a paw to calm her down. "Relax, toots. I just wanna – hey! Cool it! Call off the Psybeam!" he cried as the Ghost Pokémon readied a Psybeam.

She cancelled it out and floated into Meowth's face. "Miss-Misdreavous-dreavous-vous! Dreavous?"

"Got it! Got it! I won't call you 'toots' anymore!" Meowth said, trying to keep his voice down so he wouldn't wake up the neighbors.

"Miss-dreavous!" she said.

"You're called Lilith, huh?"

Lilith nodded.

"So what are ya doing out here in all hours of the night?" Meowth asked.

"Miss-Misdreavous. Miss, miss, Misdreavous!" she cried in frustration.

"Shhh! Keep it down! You wanna wake the neighbors? Excuse me for a moment, Miss Lilith," Meowth said. He then ran back to the fence to converse with Jessie and James.

"Well?" asked James.

"What did it say?" Jessie asked Meowth.

"She prefers to be called Lilith," Meowth explained. "She's trying to do a combination called the Flaming Heart but she can't get it down."

"Strange. The Ghost Twerp didn't strike me as the Contest type," said Jessie.

"Does she live here?" asked James.

"I'll go ask," said Meowth. He returned to Lilith. "So Miss Lilith, you live here in this dump?"

Lilith sneered at the cat Pokémon. "Miss! Misdreavous-Misdreavous-vous."

Meowth nodded. "Uh-huh. So where will ya go after you master the Flaming Heart?"

"MissMissMisdreavous," Lilith said.

"Oh…so that's why you're out here at this hour," Meowth realized. He quickly ran back to Jessie and James. "Lilith is only staying here till after the festival. The Ghost Twerp has the hots for the Goth Twerpette and wants to confess his feelings for her."

"So to do that the Misdreavous is learning this Flaming Heart thing to emphasize the Ghost Twerp's feelings?" Jessie asked.

"You betcha," Meowth affirmed. "The Ghost Twerp may be tough but he's weak when it comes to matters of the heart."

"Him and every other teenager on earth," muttered James.

"Wob-buffet," Wobbuffet agreed.

"So is the Ghost Twerp a Coordinator?" asked a nervous Jessie. The last thing she wants is another rival in Pokémon Contests.

"Nah," said Meowth, "the Ghost Twerp is only into battling. He's only doing this trick to impress the Goth Twerpette." Jessie released a sigh of relief.

"So what should we do?" asked James.

"MissMissMisdrea-vous Misdreavous," said Lilith who suddenly appeared. Team Rocket yelped.

"What makes you think we're here to steal your friends?" asked a nervous Meowth.

"Vous!" Lilith snapped. "Miss Miss Misdrev-dreavous! Mismismismis, Misdreavous dreavous!"

"Meowth, what is she saying?" Jessie asked.

"She says that if we try to break into the Ghost Twerp's house, she'll tell every Pokémon inside. The Ghost Twerp told her everything about us," Meowth translated.

"W-W-Wob-buffet," said a frightened Wobbuffet.

Meowth thought for a moment and turned to the Ghost Pokémon. "Okay then. You button your lip about us being here and we'll back off and support you in spirit! Deal?"

Lilith thought about the offer for a moment and then nodded. "Miss. Drevous drevous miss miss miss Misdreavous!" she exclaimed.

"Don't worry. We'll stay out of your way," Meowth assured before she faded away for the night.

The brief silence was broken when Jessie angrily asked Meowth, "How could let her go just like that? We could have used that Misdreavous as a bargaining chip!"

"How come you never stop to ask us what we think?" asked an equally angry James.

"Because if all goes well that little spook-ette will be the key to our success," Meowth explained. The two humans gave Meowth a blank look. The cat Pokémon sighed and continued. "If Lilith and the Ghost Twerp manage to pull off the Flaming Heart and win the Goth Twerpette's affections that will be the perfect opportunity to swipe twice as many Pokémon as usual."

Jessie's face lit up. "Now I get it! We stand idly by and wait for the perfect opportunity to steal the Ghost and Goth's Pokémon."

James then started to understand. "Then while those two lovebirds are distracted with each other, we swipe their Pokémon from under their noses!"

"And if we want to get them then we have to maintain a low profile until the Ghost Twerp confesses his feelings to the Goth Twerpette. And if the feeling's mutual, that's when we strike!" Meowth finished.

The trio cheered now that they had a plan set in motion.

* * *

**HA HA! Evil plot revealed! Of course, knowing Team Rocket, their plan will go to the grave (hehehe...ghost pun) faster than Danny can fly!**

**Question: should I include Vlad in the tournament? I've been debating on whether or not to include him, so I'm asking you, the readers.  
**


	6. The Other Competitors

**Whoot! New chapter ahoy!  
**

**To make the tournament more interesting, I included some of the not-so-smart A-listers to compete.  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**The Other Competitors**

The following morning Ash and his friends got up early to explore the town with Danny. Despite Maddie's protests, Brock cooked breakfast for everyone in the house. For once Danny and Jazz didn't have to worry about their breakfast eating _them_!

After breakfast, Danny told Jazz to keep Sam busy while he and Dawn practiced the Flaming Heart (he left Bertrand at home and took Lilith with him). While Jazz went to Sam's, Danny led our heroes to Casper High School, more importantly the football field where several students were with their Pokémon practicing for the upcoming tournament.

Brock's face immediately turned red. "Look at all the pretty girls!" he exclaimed as he laid eyes on a Latina girl and her Clefable.

"Don't waste your breath, Brock," advised Danny. "Paulina will only talk to you if you have cute Pokémon with you."

"She likes cute Pokémon?" Brock asked excitedly. He took out a Pokéball. "Happiny! Come out!" A pink egg-shaped Pokémon appeared in a flash of light.

"Happiny!" she cried excitedly.

Brock scooped up Happiny. "If you three excuse me!" he said as he zoomed toward the girl named Paulina.

Danny chuckled. "This I gotta see."

Brock approached the Latina and cleared his throat getting her attention. She turned and her eyes immediately fell on the pink Pokémon in Brock's arms.

"Aaaawwww! Is that your Happiny? It's so cute!" she cooed.

"Why thank you. I hatched her myself. The name's Brock by the way," Brock said trying to sound charming.

"I'm Paulina and this is my Clefable."

"Clefable!" it greeted.

"I love cute Pokémon! Everyone should have one!" Paulina exclaimed.

"I have to say you are quite – GAH!" Croagunk struck again. Brock fell to the ground, paralyzed. Luckily Happiny jumped out of his arms before he hit the ground.

Paulina paled. "Eeeewww! A Croagunk? Those things creep me out! Get away from me!"

Croagunk gave Paulina a blank stare before dragging Brock back to Ash, Dawn and Danny. Happiny followed close behind.

"Does Croagunk do that a lot?" Danny asked curiously.

"Hasn't failed yet," said Ash.

"Someone has to make sure Brock behaves," Dawn added.

"Pip-Lup," Piplup nodded.

Paulina then saw the other newcomers and saw Pikachu and Piplup. She immediately rushed over to them.

"Oooohhhh! What an adorable Pikachu!" she exclaimed. "I've never seen one before! I've only seen them in pictures!" She then turned her attention to Piplup. "That's an adorable Piplup you have!"

"PipPip-lup," Piplup said proudly.

"Thank you," said Dawn. She then noticed Paulina's Clefable. "Who is that little cutie?" She pulled out her Pokedex.

_**"Clefable, the Fairy Pokémon and the evolved form of Clefairy. Rarely seen by people, it is said to be drawn by the full moon to play at deserted lakes."**_

"Rare and cute," Dawn noted.

Paulina then noticed Danny. "Why are you here?" she asked snidely.

"Uh, hi Paulina," Danny said nervously. "Dawn here is helping me with a project so if you'll excuse us." He dragged Dawn and Ash away from Paulina. Happiny and Croagunk followed, dragging Brock along with them.

"Okay, Danny, show me what you got," said Dawn.

"Alright then," said Danny as his eyes changed from blue to green. "Going ghost! Lilith!" The Misdreavous appeared in a flash of light. "Now do Will O' Wisp!" Blue tongues of fire appeared around Lilith and she shot them into the air. "Okay, now do Psychic!" Lilith's eyes and the tongues of fire glowed blue. They started shifting to form a shape. A quarter of the way there, however, Lilith's eyes started to flicker and soon lost concentration. Her eyes soon returned to normal and the fire faded away.

Danny's eyes returned to normal to comfort Lilith. "It's alright. You've made a little bit of progress. That's a good thing."

Dawn was looking at the performance the whole time. "I can see what you're trying to do. What I don't understand is why Lilith lost her concentration like that."

Danny sighed. "I've been trying to understand that too."

"Maybe you're doing something wrong," Brock assumed. "You said that when you battle your mind intertwines with your Pokémon."

"Yeah, so?"

"Exactly what do you think when you're mind is intertwined with Lilith's?" asked Dawn.

"I picture the outline of a heart made of blue flames," said Danny. "I figured if Lilith saw what I imagined, it might make a good guideline for what to form."

"Maybe if you should try to give Lilith instructions on how to make the heart when your minds are linked," Dawn suggested. "That way she'll know how to do it step by step without losing concentration."

"You think that will work?" asked Danny.

"Can't hurt to try," said Ash.

"PikaPika!" assured Pikachu.

"Pip. Lup!" added Piplup.

Danny looked at Lilith. "What do say? Want to give it another try?"

"Miss!" Lilith nodded.

Danny stood up as his eyes flashed green. "In that case, use Will O' Wisp!" The blue tongues of fire appeared again. "Now use Psychic!" The tongues of fire started glowing again. They started forming into a heart a little faster and with less difficulty. About halfway there, Lilith's eyes started to flicker and soon lost her concentration. The fire then disappeared again.

Danny started to cheer. "Alright! Way to go, Lilith!"

"Miss?" said a bemused Misdreavous.

"That's the closest we've been to completing the Flaming Heart!" Danny exclaimed excitedly. "At this rate, we'll have this down by the festival!"

"That was awesome, Danny!" cheered Dawn.

"There's nothing awesome about Fen-toenail!" a cocky voice said.

Danny froze. A blonde teenage boy with broad shoulders approached the group. A Machamp walked next to him.

Ash got angry with the boy. "What are you talking about? Danny's an awesome trainer! He's plenty strong!"

"Please go away, Dash," Danny said in a small voice.

The boy, Dash, grabbed Ash by the shirt and lifted him from the ground.

"Pika-pi!" Pikachu shouted.

"Ash!" Dawn and Brock shouted.

"Who are you butting into someone else's business?" asked Dash.

"My name's Ash and I'm from Pallet Town."

"A traveler? We never get travelers in these parts," said Dash.

"I'm on my way to get my last Gym Badge," said Ash.

"Then do us all a favor and get going!" said Dash. "We don't – OW!" Lilith, being a Ghost Pokémon, yanked on Dash's hair causing him to release Ash. "A Ghost Pokémon? FENTON! THIS HAS YOU WRITTEN ALL OVER IT!"

"Lilith, let him go," Danny ordered. Lilith reluctantly did so. Dash sneered at her and Lilith retaliated by making a scary face that sent shivers down the bully's spine. Danny frowned. "That's the last time I'm letting Spooky watch over you," he noted.

"So, Fen-toad, are you going to enter the Founder's Day Tournament?" asked Dash.

"I am and this year I'm going to win," Danny said confidently.

Dash and Machamp started laughing hysterically. Dawn finally noticed the four-armed Pokémon and pulled out her Pokedex. "What is that?"

"_**Machamp, the Superpower Pokémon and the evolved form of Machoke. It can send a train flying in one punch. However, it is terrible at delicate work using its fingers."**_

"So I'm guessing that your Machamp got kicked out of your grandmother's sewing circle?" Danny guessed sarcastically after hearing the entry.

Dash gritted his teeth. "Watch it, Fenton. I'll wipe the floor this year. I'll beat you, your techno-geek friend, and your Goth girlfriend too!"

"Sam's not my girlfriend!" Danny exclaimed.

"Piplup!" Piplup added confidently. Looks like Pikachu wasn't the only one catching on what's happening between Danny and Sam.

Dawn had had enough of this guy. "Danny is the one who will mop the floor in this year's tournament, not you!"

Dash scoffed. "Oh yeah? Says who?"

"Says me!" Dawn answered.

"Lup?"

"Huh?" said Ash.

"What?" Brock stammered.

"Ash and I will enter the tournament," said Dawn. "And if we can't beat you then one of Danny's friends will!"

"Uh, Dawn?" Danny tried to cut in.

Dash narrowed his eyes on the young Coordinator. "You're on! The festival starts this weekend. Preliminaries are on Friday, Semi-finals on Saturday, Championship is on Sunday. Got it?"

"We'll be there and so will Danny, Sam, Jazz and Tucker!" Dawn said confidently.

"Good. Later, losers," Dash said as he walked away.

"DAWN!" her friends cried.

"What?" she answered innocently.

"Is the word 'think' in your vocabulary?" Danny asked sarcastically.

"Dawn, you've seen Danny battle," said Brock. "Do you really think you're strong enough to go against him and his peers? No offense, Danny."

"None taken."

"Of course I'm sure," said Dawn. "That guy is a bigger jerk than Paul! I say I should enter to teach him a lesson."

"Dawn, are you forgetting that I'm entering the tournament too?" asked Danny. "Did it ever occur to you that one of you would be fighting me or my friends?"

"Yeah," Ash piped up, "don't I get a say in this?"

"No need to worry, guys. I'm sure everything will be just fine. Besides, Sam did promise a battle with me so it will be something to look forward to," Dawn assured.

"Whoopie," Danny said unenthusiastically.

Dawn then clapped her hands together. "Alright now! Let's focus on your Flaming Heart first!"

~0~0~0~

Meanwhile Sam, Tucker and Jazz were signing up for the tournament at the Pokémon Center. And because Sam's Tangrowth, Undergrowth, had a check-up and needed to be picked up. While there was one in the Pokémon Center, the other one was set up at Casper High. Sam didn't understand why they were signing up here.

"Remind me again why we're signing up for the tournament at the Center and not the school?" asked Sam.

"Because…uh…Paulina is there and…we all know how much you can't stand her," Jazz stuttered.

Sam's eye twitched. "Is Paulina going to be in the tournament?" she asked through gritted teeth.

Tucker looked through the list of participants through his PDA. "Yep. Looks like she's participating this year."

"What?" Sam exclaimed. "Why is she in it? She doesn't even train her Pokémon herself. She hires someone else to do it."

"If that's true then she won't get past the preliminaries," said Tucker. His face suddenly lit up. "Which means that she'll need a shoulder to cry on! Sweet!"

Sam smacked Tucker upside the head. "I hope I fight her. Revenge is going to be oh so sweet!"

"How are you going to fight her?" asked Jazz. "You need six Pokémon to enter."

"Which is why I'm going to be using one of my parents' Pokémon," said Sam.

"They're going to lend you one of theirs?" asked Tucker.

"Whichever one knows how to battle."

As the three left the Pokémon Center they walked towards Sam's house to meet up with Danny and the others.

"So, Sam when are you going to date my brother?" asked Jazz.

Sam nearly tripped. "What? What are you talking about? I don't like Danny like that!"

Tucker scoffed. "Come on, Sam. I've been sensing chemistry between you two since eighth grade." Sam gave the techno-geek a death glare. "And I'm going to shut up now."

Sam sighed. "Is it that obvious?"

"Duh," Jazz and Tucker said at the same time.

* * *

**Looks like Dawn and Ash dragged themselves into another situation!**

**Sam getting into a Pokemon battle with Paulina is something I look forward to writing!  
**

**I'm still feeling conflicted about including Vlad in my story. Answer the poll on my profile to help me solve this little problem!  
**


	7. Conflicted

**I decided to hold off the tournament by one chapter so I can squeeze in a little DannyXSam fluff. Those two lovebirds are so cute!  
**

**I'm dedicating this chapter to my baby sister who is graduating from high school today! Love you, sis!  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**Conflicted**

Danny led Ash and his friends to the Mansons' house where Sam, Jazz and Tucker were waiting for them. Upon answering the door, the Mansons immediately took a disliking to Ash and Brock. They didn't seem to mind Dawn though, probably because they recognized her from watching her Contests on TV.

The four trainers went up to Sam's room where everyone else waited for them.

"Hey Danny," Jazz greeted.

"Hey guys," Danny greeted. A Tangrowth came over and gave Danny a huge hug. "Ack! Good to see you too, Undergrowth," he gasped. "Sam? A little help here?"

Sam chuckled. "Okay Undergrowth, put him down before he asphyxiates." The Tangrowth named Undergrowth put him down.

"Wow! You own a Tangrowth?" Ash asked in astonishment.

"I thought you liked Dark Pokémon," Dawn noted.

"I said Dark-types were my favorite," said Sam. "That doesn't mean I can raise other types too."

"So, Ash, Dawn and Brock, are you guys going to stay for the Founder's Day Festival?" asked Jazz.

"We are now," said Brock. "Ash and Dawn entered the tournament."

"WHAT?" Tucker, Sam and Jazz said in unison.

"There was this huge jerk who wouldn't stop picking on Danny," Dawn reasoned. "Danny wasn't doing anything so someone had to stand up to him!"

"That's why I have my Ghost Pokémon to do it for me," said Danny. "Dash is especially afraid of Spooky."

"It's true. He's been afraid of him since he was a Gastly," Tucker added.

"I wonder if he'll break down in the middle of the match," wondered Sam.

"Does Dash have a type specialty?" Brock asked.

"He likes Fighting-types," Jazz answered, "but he does have some Ground-types too."

"If that's the case then we'd better start training," said Ash.

~0~0~0~

The gang spent the rest of the week at the park training for tomorrow's preliminary matches. Ash and his friends followed Jazz back to Fenton Works while Tucker went back home.

Danny was about to go inside when Sam stopped him. "Danny, wait!"

Danny turned around and faced the Goth. "Yeah, Sam?"

Sam paused before speaking. "Well, actually I'm kind of worried about tomorrow," she said nervously.

Danny raised an eyebrow. "What are you worried about? You're in the top ten toughest trainers in our grade! You'll be fine," he assured.

Sam gave him a deadpanned look. "Danny, we're both in the top ten."

Danny then shrugged. "Then what are you worried about?"

"Well, I know you've been dreaming about winning the Founder's Day tournament but what if you and I end up battling each other?" Sam asked worriedly. "You know I'm not going to hold back during the tournament. I don't want to shoot your dream out of the sky."

Danny blushed. "W-W-Well, what are the odds of us going against each other?" he asked hastily. "We shouldn't worry about it."

Sam sighed heavily. "I know but there's still that possibility."

"Hold on," Danny said as he dug through his pocket. He pulled out a black choker with a matching black stone. On the stone was a white DP insignia engraved in it.

Sam's face lit up. "You made this for me?"

"As a good luck charm," Danny stammered. "Bertrand helped me find the stone and… uh… I just thought it might be something you'd like…"

Sam gave him a peck on the cheek. "I love it. I'll wear it throughout the whole tournament."

Danny smiled. "Really? Great! So, I'll see you at the tournament."

Sam smiled back, "Don't forget to wear a costume tomorrow!"

"Of course! Everyone will be wearing one!" Danny exclaimed. Sam laughed and then waved good-bye and ran all the way home. As soon as she was out of sight, Danny went inside.

"Pika?"

"Lup?"

Danny snapped out of his daze and noticed that Pikachu and Piplup standing in front of the stairs. Both of them had knowing smirks on their faces.

Danny looked at them. "What? What are you two looking at?"

"Pika? Pikapikachu?" Pikachu asked, as he held his own chin like he knew what was going on.

Guessing what the yellow mouse was asking, Danny whispered, "She just kissed me on the cheek. It's nothing special."

"Pip-pipLUP?" Piplup asked surprised.

Danny snapped Piplup's beak shut with his index finger and thumb. "Shhh! Be quiet! It could mean nothing! Don't jump to conclusions. You two better be quiet about this you hear me?"

"Pikapikachuuuu…" Pikachu sang.

"I mean it, Pikachu!" warned Danny. "Don't give me a reason for my Ghost Pokémon to haunt you! That goes for you too, Piplup."

Pikachu paled at that. "Pipikachu," Pikachu promised. Danny didn't know what Pikachu was saying but he was guessed that Pikachu promised not to tell anyone.

"Pip-lup!" Piplup promised, putting a wing **(or is it a flipper? I never know which to call it)** on his chest.

"Thank you," said Danny. He then went to his bedroom.

~0~0~0~

Sam was trying to figure out what her sixth Pokémon should be. Granted most of her Pokémon were Dark-types but she also had Undergrowth and Desiree, her Grumpig. She could ask her grandmother if she could borrow Wulf, her Mightyena, but Sam didn't know how old he was. The Grass-type Pokémon living in her greenhouse weren't really fighters. There was no choice. Sam had to ask…her parents.

Sam sat at the dinner table stabbing at her salad deep in thought.

"Sammy-kins, is everything alright?" Sam's mother, Pamela, asked.

"You better not be getting butterflies, are you?" asked Grandma. "Tomorrow, you're supposed to show those conservative whipper-snappers that they're not mindless drones."

"It's not that, Grandma," Sam reasoned. "I'm one Pokémon short for the tournament tomorrow."

"I can lend you Wulf," Grandma offered.

"Mother, you've had Wulf since Jeremy and I got married," said Pamela.

"She could borrow Johnny or Kitty," Jeremy offered.

"That wimpy Persian and sissy Delcatty couldn't beat a Magikarp," snapped Grandma. "Wulf is tougher than he looks."

"Fine," said Pamela. "Let's talk about what costume you're going to wear…"

"Nothing pink," Sam interrupted.

"But I have this adorable Little Bo Peep outfit picked out for you," Pamela argued.

"And how many teenagers wore something like that when you were in high school?" Sam retorted.

"It's a festival. You're supposed to dress up."

"I'd rather wear a tutu," Sam muttered.

~0~0~0~

The day of the Founder's Day Festival had arrived. Several booths and carnival rides were set up throughout Amity Central Park. The tournament was held at the local sports arena. Several trainers signed up for the tournament. Most of them were local trainers that Danny and his friends knew.

To make time for the trainers to enjoy the festival, the preliminaries and the semifinals would be three-on-three battles. Participants usually wore costumes and wacky outfits to make the tournament more entertaining for the little children.

This year, since so many people signed up for the tournament, the preliminaries had to be held in both the sports arena and the Casper High football field.

Danny, Ash and their friends' battles were all being held at Casper High School. Since Dawn didn't have six Pokémon, she called her friend, O, to send her Ambipom to compete. Ambipom was pretty happy to see Dawn and Ash again. They could tell when she started stealing their hats again. She even went as far as stealing Tucker's beret, which Sam and Danny thought was hilarious.

Both groups went to the locker rooms to change into their costumes.

"Well, what do you think?" Dawn asked as she came out of one of the shower stalls to use as a changing room. She was wearing a cheerleader outfit that she often wore whenever Ash was in a Gym battle.

Sam, dressed as an Egyptian maiden, stepped out of another shower stall. She took one look at Dawn's outfit and grimaced. "A cheerleader? You gotta be kidding me."

Dawn frowned. "You don't like it?"

Jazz, dressed in one of her mother's jumpsuits, stepped out of another shower stall. "Don't take it to heart, Dawn," Jazz assured. "Sam has never liked cheerleaders. The entire cheerleading squad hates Sam and her friends."

"Sorry, Dawn. I'm just not fond of cheerleaders," said Sam.

"Well that's okay. It's only for today, right? Let's just try to get past the preliminary rounds and hope we battle each other!" Dawn said confidently.

Paulina then appeared, also dressed as a cheerleader only hers was red and white while Dawn's was pink.

Paulina frowned at Dawn's costume. "You copycat! You stole my idea," she accused Dawn.

This shocked the young Coordinator. "What? No! I just came up with this idea on my own," she defended.

"I have to be honest, Paulina," said Sam. "If Dawn were a cheerleader, she'd be the only one with her head screwed on. Not to mention she's not as shallow as you and the rest of the squad."

Paulina frowned. "Did you just call me SHALLOW?"

"If you mean a puddle of water that her Piplup can play in and not get wet, then yes," Sam answered.

Dawn and Jazz both had to restrain Sam and Paulina from tearing each other apart.

"It's okay, Sam. She's not worth it," Dawn grunted.

"Calm down, Paulina," said Jazz. "You two can settle this in the tournament."

The Goth and the Latina glowered at each other and left the locker room, both yelling "FINE!"

Jazz sighed. "For once, I hope those two battle in the preliminary rounds. I'm tired of being the referee for their fights."

"Have they always been like this?" asked Dawn.

"For as long as I've known Sam."

~0~0~0~

Meanwhile, in the boys' locker room, Danny, Tucker and Ash were getting into their costumes. Brock didn't sign up so he was sitting with Jack and Maddie in the stands.

"I wonder who we're battling first," Tucker wondered. He was just finished putting on the finishing touches of his Goth costume.

"Beats me," said Danny as Ash was helping him put on a mouth cover for his samurai costume (Ash was dressed in the same costume he wore in the Wallace Cup). "I just hope we don't battle each other. It's hard for me to get past the whole 'friendship-barrier' thing."

"That's always hard to do," said Ash. "Especially if you're in a tournament. Right, Pikachu?"

"Pika," Pikachu nodded.

"And remind me again, Tucker, why you're dressed like that?" asked Danny.

"Sam dared me to," Tucker explained. "If I ever battle her, I'll make sure she pays!"

Danny snorted. "You freak out whenever you see Shadow. How are you going to get back at Sam if she uses him in battle?" Tucker opened his mouth to respond but found he didn't have an answer. The boys met up with the girls in the cafeteria where someone set up a big screen TV for everyone to watch while they wait their turn.

Sam turned and saw Danny, Ash and Tucker enter the room. She almost didn't recognize Danny but that's mainly because the large hat and mouth cover hid most of his face.

"Danny? Is that you under there?" Sam asked.

"Hey Sam. Cool costume," Danny complimented.

Sam blushed. "L-Likewise," she responded. Danny noticed that she was wearing the choker he gave her last night.

"You're wearing the choker I gave you," Danny noted.

"Well, yeah, you said it was a good luck charm."

"Looks like I'm at a disadvantage."

"Oh, come on! You seriously think a good luck charm is going to help me win the tournament?" asked Sam.

Danny shrugged. "You never know. I just have to remember to find a good luck charm for myself."

"Hey! Luvdiscs! Quit talking! It's starting!" Tucker shouted.

"We're not Luvdiscs!" Danny and Sam yelled back. They approached the others and saw their teacher, Mr. Lancer, on the screen.

"Welcome to our annual Amity Park Founder's Day Festival," Lancer greeted the audience. "Due to the amount of participants signing up, some of our competitors will be battling here in the school football field. The preliminary and semifinal matches will be three-on-three battles between two trainers. The first trainer to lose all three of their Pokémon in battle will be eliminated from the competition."

"So it's just like Ash and Danny's battle," Dawn noted.

"Now if you'll please direct your attention to the Jumbo Screen. We'll be scrambling the trainer's names to see who will battle whom in the preliminaries," Lancer directed.

A Jumbo Screen that someone set up showed every trainer's face on the screen. The pictures then scrambled. Everyone in the room froze as they waited for the results.

* * *

**Cliffhanger much? Who will battle who? Stay tuned!**

**I wanted the main characters to be wearing costumes throughout the tournament. Kinda change it up a little, ya know?  
**

**Recognize the costumes Team Phantom were wearing?  
**


	8. Showdown! Goth Vs Cheerleader

**Finally! The tournament begins! This is something that will show that shallow cheerleaders are dumb!**

**Thank you, Megamastermaind! Your ideas are very helpful for me!  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Showdown! Goth vs. Cheerleader**

As Brock, Maddie and Jack sat in the stands, Brock noticed a familiar face sitting near them. His purple hair and cold look of determination in his eyes were unmistakable. It was Paul. This aloof trainer has been Ash's rival since he came into the Sinnoh Region. Paul seemed rather cold-hearted toward his Pokémon but that was only because he's trying to unleash their true potential in battle, something he learned when he watched his brother fight Brandon of the Battle Frontier. Ash got his Monferno from Paul after he abandoned it when he was a Chimchar.

Brock excused himself to talk to Paul. The aloof trainer seemed to talk openly to only Brock. "Hey Paul. What are you doing here?"

Paul glared at the Pokémon breeder and then continued looking at the football field. "Watching the tournament, what else?"

"You're obviously here for a reason," Brock pressed on the issue.

"I'm only here for observation," Paul bluntly explained. "I heard there was a prodigy trainer specializing in Ghost-type Pokémon. I'm here to see if he's as good as everyone says."

"You mean Danny Fenton?" asked Brock.

"Is that his name?" Paul asked.

"Yeah. He's a pretty good trainer," said Brock. "He and Ash actually battled a few days ago."

"Who won?"

"It was close but Danny won."

Paul grunted. "Figures he'd lose." Brock bit his tongue to keep himself from defending Ash. Even if Brock tried, Paul would just brush it off his shoulders. That's the reason Brock has stopped trying to reason with the aloof trainer.

~0~0~0~

To no one's surprise, Sam was going to battle Paulina next. Everyone was eager to see the Goth go against the cheerleader.

"This next match is between Miss Samantha Manson and Miss Paulina Sanchez," announced Lancer. Both Sam's picture and Paulina's picture appeared on the Jumbo Screen as well as the TV in the cafeteria. A wheel spun to see who goes first. The arrow landed on Sam.

"Phantom! Come on out!" said Sam as she threw her Pokéball. Phantom appeared in a flash of light.

"An Eevee evolution? Two can play at that game! I choose Vaporeon!" yelled Paulina. A cat-like creature with a mermaid's tale appeared from its Pokéball.

"I should have known," said Tucker. "Phantom and Vaporeon hate each other as much as Paulina and Sam do."

"Let's just hope neither of them wind up on a stretcher," muttered Danny,

"Let the battle begin!" Lancer shouted.

"Phantom, use Confuse Ray!" Sam ordered. Phantom's red eyes and yellow rings began glowing. In a matter of seconds, Vaporeon was confused.

"Aauugghh! What have you done to my Vaporeon?" asked a panicked Paulina.

"Here's a little refresher for those who paid more attention to their nails than to the teacher," said Sam. "Confuse Ray is a move that temporarily confuses your Pokémon."

"Aaahhh!" panicked Paulina. "What should I do? How do I fix this?"

"Here's an idea," said Sam. "Phantom, use Quick Attack!" Phantom charged at Vaporeon at full speed. He then crashed into Vaporeon.

The Water Pokémon snapped out of confusion much to Paulina's delight. "Yay! You're all right! Now you also do Quick Attack!" yelled Paulina. Vaporeon, like Phantom, charged at the Dark Pokémon at top speed.

Sam, remembering Ash's dodging strategy, yelled, "Phantom quick! Dig!"

Phantom dove into the ground and out of sight. Vaporeon stopped and looked around, wondering where her opponent would pop up. Without warning, Phantom emerged from the ground and struck Vaporeon.

"No! Vaporeon! Use Aurora Beam!" Paulina shrieked. A beam of multicolored light blasted out of Vaporeon's mouth. It hit Phantom point blank. "Now use Brine!" Water erupted from Vaporeon's mouth hitting Phantom.

Sam could tell her Umbreon was getting tired at this point. "Come on, Phantom! Use Confuse Ray again!" Phantom's eyes and rings lit up again. Vaporeon became confused again.

Paulina panicked again. "Not again! This isn't fair!"

"Life isn't fair!" yelled Sam. "Now use Dark Pulse!" Like Danny's Pokémon, a sphere filled with black rings was launched from Phantom's mouth. Vaporeon was hit directly. "Now finish it off with Quick Attack!" Phantom collided with Vaporeon, knocking her out.

A big beefy woman named Coach Teslaff blew her whistle. "Vaporeon is unable to battle! Umbreon wins!" Vaporeon's picture on the giant screen faded into a silhouette.

Sam pumped her fist. Danny and his friends cheered for Sam's first win in the battle.

Paulina was steamed. She called her Vaporeon back. "You're going to pay for this, Goth freak!" she yelled.

~0~0~0~

Team Rocket, selling peanuts, cotton candy, and soda as a cover, was watching the battle from the stands. They underestimated Sam. She could battle.

"Looks like the Goth Twerpette's opponent is all talk and no battle," James noted.

"I can't imagine how the Boss would use these twerps' Pokémon for his plans," Meowth said.

"Provided he ever tells us his plans," Jessie added.

"Wob-buffet!"

~0~0~0~

"I'll show you!" shrieked Paulina. "I choose Roselia!" A plant-like Pokémon with roses for hands appeared from its Pokéball. Roselia's picture appeared next to Paulina's picture on the screen.

Coach Teslaff then blew her whistle. "And begin!"

"Phantom, return!" Sam shouted. Phantom disappeared into his Pokéball. His picture on the screen faded to black-and-white. Sam pulled out another Pokéball and threw it. "Let's go, Ember!" In a flash of light, a dog-like Pokémon with a devil's tail appeared.

~0~0~0~

Dawn, seeing this new Pokémon on the TV, pulled out her Pokedex.

_**"Houndoom, the Dark Pokémon and the evolved form of Houndour. The fire it breathes when it's angry contains toxins. If they cause a burn, it will hurt forever."**_

"A Pokémon suitable for Sam, no doubt," said Dawn.

"Pip-lup," Piplup agreed.

~0~0~0~

"Roselia, use Poison Sting!" Paulina ordered. Glowing white spikes shot out of its red and blue roses. The spikes hit Ember head on. Ember braced herself for the attack.

Like regular dogs, Ember suddenly started panting with her tongue hanging out of her mouth. It dawned on Sam that her Houndoom was poisoned. "Oh no, Ember!"

"Now, do Magical Leaf!" said Paulina. Glowing light green leaves appeared out of Roselia's roses, hitting Ember again. It didn't do much but still did damage. "That mangy mutt is going down!"

Sam gritted her teeth. "Come on, Ember! Use Flamethrower!" Fire erupted from Ember's mouth. It hit Roselia, frying her. She tried to get back up to fight but Sam wasn't done. "Quick! Use Iron Tail!" Ember's tail glowed and she struck Roselia, knocking her out.

Coach Teslaff blew her whistle again. "Roselia is unable to battle! Houndoom wins!" Roselia's picture on the screen faded into another silhouette. Danny and his friends cheered again for another win for Sam.

Paulina called her Roselia back. "This is so unfair! She's not supposed to win! She's a loser!"

"Oh, suck it up, princess!" Sam shouted.

~0~0~0~

Brock noticed that Paul was frowning more than usual at the girls' match. "You okay, Paul?"

"The tan girl is obviously inexperienced in training her Pokémon," Paul stated.

Brock nodded. "I know. Sam told us that Paulina pays someone else to do the training for her. She may know her Pokémon's moves but she doesn't know how to remain calm in battle."

"She's not even fit to be a Coordinator, much less a Trainer," Paul stated.

"You've pretty much hit the nail on the head on that note," said Brock.

~0~0~0~

Paulina held her next Pokéball in her hand. "I refuse to lose to that Goth geek," she growled. "I choose Jumpluff!" A round blue Pokémon with beady red eyes and cotton balls on its hands and head appeared from its Pokéball.

~0~0~0~

Dawn once again pulled out her Pokedex.

_**"Jumpluff, the Cottonweed Pokémon and the evolved form of Skiploom. Blown by seasonal winds, it circles the globe, scattering cotton spores as it goes."**_

"A Pokémon that looks like a cheerleader, for a cheerleader," Dawn drawled.

~0~0~0~

Coach Teslaff blew her whistle. "And begin!"

"Ember, return!" Sam called. Ember returned to her Pokéball. She then pulled out another and threw it. "I choose Desiree!" A purple and black pig-like Pokémon appeared in Ember's place.

~0~0~0~

Dawn entered it into her Pokedex.

_**"Grumpig, the Manipulate Pokémon and the evolved form of Spoink. It uses the black pearls on its body to amplify its psychic powers. It does an odd dance to take control of its foes."**_

"Well, Sam did say she was a Goth," said Ash. "Black and purple are usually found on Goths, right?"

~0~0~0~

"Now, Jumpluff! Use Bullet Seed!" said Paulina. Green balls of light fired from Jumpluff's "Pom-poms" and hit Desiree.

"Alright, Desiree, use Confuse Ray!" Sam shouted. Desiree's eyes and pearls began glowing. Jumpluff became confused almost instantly. It soon began hitting itself.

Paulina started to panic again. "Not again! Why are you always using that dumb move? Come on, Jumpluff! Snap out of it or…uh…no more Poffins for you!" The Grass Pokémon continued ignoring her. Paulina noticed that Desiree was doing an odd dance and Jumpluff was dancing the same moves as its opponent.

Sam smirked. "I'm so enjoying this! Desiree! Use Psybeam!" One of the pearls on Desiree's body started to glow. It then unleashed a beam of light of many colors at Jumpluff. It was different than Vaporeon's Aurora Beam. This beam had many more colors in it. Jumpluff was still very much confused.

Paulina clenched her fists. "I refuse to lose! Jumpluff, use Giga Drain!" Instead of Giga Drain Jumpluff used PoisonPowder…on itself. "What the heck are you doing?"

Sam had to keep herself composed in order to take out Paulina. "Desiree, finish it off with Bounce!" The Grumpig used her tail and bounced into the air. She then landed on Jumpluff, knocking it out.

Coach Teslaff blew her whistle and raised her flag. "Jumpluff is unable to battle. Grumpig wins and the winner of this battle is Samantha Manson!"

The stands as well as Danny and the gang cheered for Sam's victory. Sam was speechless.

"Grump? Grumpig?" said Grumpig waving its hoof in front of its Trainer's face.

Sam snapped out of her gaze. "Huh? Oh Yeah! I WON!" she screeched. She embraced her Psychic Pokémon happily. "We showed Paulina, didn't we?"

"Grump-pig!"

Paulina just stormed away screeching something incoherent. It sounded like she wanted a do-over or something. Sam shrugged and entered the school.

"Sam, hold on!" Brock cried as he caught up with the Goth.

"Hey Brock," said Sam.

"Hey, congratulations on your win," Brock complimented.

"Thanks," Sam said proudly. She paused and glared at the Pokémon breeder. "Hold on. You're not going to flirt with me, are you?"

"Nah. It's quite evident that Danny likes you a lot."

Sam blushed a deep red. "Uh, no! It's not like that! We're just friends."

"Piiiig," said Desiree.

Sam scowled at her Pokémon. "I get enough from Tucker and Jazz and I don't need to hear it from you too! Into your Pokéball!" Desiree disappeared back into her Pokéball.

The two trainers entered the cafeteria where Danny and his friends greeted and congratulated her.

"Way to go, Sam!" Ash cheered.

"You showed that girl!" Dawn exclaimed.

Danny embraced Sam tightly. "You did awesome! I knew you could beat her!" Sam blushed and returned the embrace.

They turned their attention to the screen where Dash was already creaming a fellow student named Mikey. Danny then went next where he beat Dash's friend Kwan in less than ten minutes. Ash then beat a girl named Valerie. Dawn went next against a girl named Star who lost to the Coordinator.

"How come theses are only kids?" asked Brock.

Sam sighed. "To be honest, this tournament is for trainers eighteen and under. The adult trainers compete in the sports arena."

"Take a look at who's fighting next!" Danny exclaimed. Everyone looked and they all dropped their jaws. Tucker was going to battle Jazz.

* * *

**Alright people! Tucker Vs. Jazz! Start placing your bets! Who do you think will win?**

**I actually got this story idea after seeing a lot of DP and Pokemon artwork on and I thought 'why hasn't anyone written a fic about Danny being a trainer?' And thus, this story was born!  
**

**Before you ask: NO! Paul will NOT battle Danny in this story! This is focused on the tournament and a clueless teenage boy who is trying to admit his feelings to the one he loves.  
**

**Thanks again to Megamastermaind for giving me ideas for this story!  
**


	9. Best Friend Vs Big Sister

**Yay! New chapter! The Pokemon battle might seem a little short but that's only because I can't exactly write lengthy battles! Cut me some slack...hey! Another axe pun!  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**Best Friend Vs. Big Sister**

For the first time in his life, Danny was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He wanted to cheer for his best friend but he also wanted to cheer for his sister. There was also what the battle would be like. Ash, Brock and Dawn had their eyes glued to the screen.

Team Rocket was also intrigued by this turn of events, which made them want to snag the twerps' Pokémon even more.

"Four-Eyed Twerp versus Smart-alecky Twerp. Who will win?" said James.

"Makes things more difficult for us. Which twerp will we steal from?" asked Jessie.

"Wouldn't it be funny if one of our twerps had to go against one of the Ghost Twerp's friends again in this tournament?" asked Meowth.

"Wooooobbuffet!" said Wobbuffet.

Jessie smiled excitedly. "That would be a battle worth watching again!"

~0~0~0~

"Our last battle of the first preliminary round will be Miss Jasmine Fenton versus Mr. Tucker Foley," Lancer announced. "You both know the rules. Let the battle begin!"

The wheel spun and landed on Tucker's picture, indicating that he would make the first move in this battle.

"Okay, then. I choose Ampharos!" said Tucker. A yellow Pokémon with a long neck appeared in a flash of light.

"In that case, I choose Gardevoir!" Jazz said as she threw her Pokéball. A humanoid Pokémon that appeared to be wearing a silvery dress appeared.

~0~0~0~

"Wow! A Gardevoir!" Dawn exclaimed. Yes, she has seen one before but due to certain circumstances she was unable to look it up.

_**"Gardevoir, the Embrace Pokémon and the evolved form of Kirlia. It will try to protect its trusted Trainer with its life. It has the ability to see the future."**_

"A Pokémon loyal to the end," Brock noted.

"Yeah," said Danny, "and it makes a good baby-sitter."

~0~0~0~

"Ampharos, use Swift attack!" said Tucker. The orb on Ampharos's tail lit up. As he swung it, stars came out and struck Gardevoir.

"Gardevoir, use Shadow Ball!" ordered Jazz. A shadowy orb appeared in Gardevoir's hands. She then threw it at Ampharos.

"I've noticed that a lot of your Pokémon know Ghost and Dark-type moves, such as Shadow Ball and Dark Pulse," Brock noted.

"I've spent ten years of my life studying Ghost Pokémon," Danny simply said. "When your sister has shoved every book on them under your nose, you kind of know what moves you can and cannot teach Ghost and Psychic-types."

"Ampharos, use Thunderbolt!" Electricity shot out of Ampharos's body and struck the Embrace Pokémon.

"You wanna play hardball, huh? Fine! Gardevoir, use Psychic!" yelled Jazz. Gardevoir's eyes lit up as well as Ampharos's body. He jerked in one direction and then another. The Electric Pokémon rose into the air and was slammed into the ground.

"Come on, Ampharos! You can do it!" Tucker cheered. The yellow Pokémon slowly got back on its feet. "Iron Tail!" Ampharos's tail lit up and he swung it, striking Gardevoir.

"Gardevoir, use Magical Leaf!" ordered Jazz. Glowing light green leaves appeared around Gardevoir's body. She then launched them at Ampharos, knocking him out.

"No! Ampharos!" Tucker cried.

Coach Teslaff blew her whistle. "Ampharos is unable to battle! Gardevoir wins!" Jazz cheered for her Pokémon's win.

Tucker sadly called his Pokémon back. "Nice job, buddy." He put Ampharos's Pokéball away and pulled out another. "Two can play at this game! Let's go, Metang!" In a flash of light, a blue robotic Pokémon appeared.

Coach Teslaff blew her whistle signaling the match to continue.

"Payback time, Jazz! Metang, use Flash Cannon!" said Tucker. A beam of silvery light shot out of Metang's body, striking Gardevoir.

Jazz called Gardevoir back and pulled out a different Pokéball. "Ninetails, take over!" she shouted as she threw it. A fox-like Pokémon with nine tails appeared.

~0~0~0~

Dawn's eyes widened. "Wow! What a beautiful Pokémon!" she exclaimed as she pulled out her Pokedex.

_**"Ninetails, the Fox Pokémon and the evolved form of Vulpix. Its nine beautiful tails are said to be imbued with a mystic power. It can live for a thousand years."**_

"It must be pretty intelligent to be able to live for a thousand years," muttered Dawn.

"Pip-lup," agreed Piplup.

~0~0~0~

"My turn!" Tucker exclaimed. "Metang, use Metal Claw!" Metang's claws lit up and scratched Ninetails with them. Ninetails braced herself.

"Ninetails, use Confuse Ray!" The fox's red eyes glowed red and Metang became confused. Metang then moved its arms in a robotic pattern.

"Okay, Jazz, now you're just being insulting!" said Tucker. "Using Confuse Ray to make Metang do the Robot?"

Jazz shrugged. "Oh well. Ninetails, use Flamethrower!" Fire spewed from Ninetails's mouth, frying Metang but also snapping him out of his confusion.

"Okay, Metang! Use Meteor Mash!" said Tucker. Metang's hand lit up and punched Ninetails. Upon impact, several orange and yellow stars appeared from Metang's fist.

"Ninetails, are you okay?" asked a concerned Jazz. Ninetails nodded. "Now, use another Flamethrower!" Fire once again spewed from Ninetails's mouth, knocking Metang out.

Teslaff blew her whistle. "Metang is unable to battle! Ninetails wins!" The audience cheered.

Tucker called his Metang back. "This means war, Bastiodon!" Bastiodon appeared in a flash of light.

With the blow of the whistle, the battle continued.

"Now, Bastiodon! Use Iron Head!" ordered Tucker. Bastiodon, his head glowing with white light which then spread throughout his body, charged at Ninetails before Jazz had a chance to tell her to dodge.

"Don't give up, Ninetails! Use Dig!" Ninetails dove into the ground and out of sight.

Tucker didn't seem too worried. "Earthquake!" Bastiodon stomped his front legs, causing the ground to shake. Ninetails popped out of the ground, seriously hurt. "Now, finish it up with Take Down!" Bastiodon charged at Ninetails, knocking her out.

"Ninetails is unable to battle! Bastiodon wins!" announced Teslaff after blowing her whistle.

"Yes! Bastiodon, you're the man!" Tucker cheered.

Jazz called Ninetails back. "Great job, Ninetails. I hope you've learned a lot from this. I know I did." She pulled out another Pokéball. "Come back out, Gardevoir!" The humanoid Pokémon reappeared in a flash of light. However, it looked pretty worn out.

"And begin!" Teslaff announced.

"Gardevoir, use Magical Leaf!" The familiar glowing leaves appeared around Gardevoir. She launched it at Bastiodon, striking the prehistoric Pokémon. It didn't do much, though.

~0~0~0~

"Hold on," said Sam as she watched the match on screen. "Magical Leaf is a Grass-type move. Bastiodon is a Steel-type as well as a Rock-type. Shouldn't Gardevoir have done more damage to him then?"

"You have to remember that Steel-type Pokémon have high defenses regardless of their secondary type," Brock explained. "Although Magical Leaf would normally cause a lot of damage to a normal Rock Pokémon, it only does half the regular damage if the Pokémon is both Rock and Steel-type."

"That makes sense," said Ash. "I learned that the hard way when I battled Byron."

Something occurred to Dawn. "Wait a minute, Sam. How do you know that Bastiodon is a boy?"

Sam smirked. "It's one of the advantages of having a friend who can understand Ghost-type Pokémon. Danny's Pokémon tell him what's a boy and what's a girl. It really comes in handy."

Danny blushed at that. "Well, it works most of the time," he said modestly. "Pokémon like Tucker's Porygon2 don't have a gender. It's kind of hard how to address it."

"I even suggested we name it 'Tron'." Sam added jokingly.

"How close are Tucker and Porygon2?" asked Ash.

"Pretty close," said Danny. "What started as a huge misunderstanding turned into something better. As soon as Tucker and I get the necessary items, we're going to temporary trade our Pokémon so they can evolve."

"That's good to hear," said Brock.

~0~0~0~

"Now, Bastiodon! Use Flash Cannon!" said Tucker. A beam of silvery light came out of Bastiodon's mouth.

"Gardevoir, stop it with Shadow Ball!" ordered Jazz. The Psychic Pokémon launched a Shadow Ball at the beam of light. The shadowy orb exploded on impact.

"Hurry, Bastiodon! Use Take Down!" Bastiodon emerged from the smoke and collided with Gardevoir, finally knocking her out.

The whistle was blown. "Gardevoir is unable to battle! Bastiodon wins!"

The crowd cheered. Jazz called her Gardevoir back. "Don't be upset, Gardevoir. You were great."

~0~0~0~

Ash, Danny and their friends were chewing their nails at this point. Both Tucker and Jazz each had one Pokémon left. Danny knew that Bastiodon was the sturdiest Pokémon he's ever known. If Jazz wanted to win, she'd have to pick her next Pokémon wisely.

"Does Jazz have any Pokémon that can break through Bastiodon's defense?" asked Sam.

Danny thought long and hard. Ninetails was Jazz's best bet at winning. With her out of the picture now, Jazz will have to rely on Fighting-type or Water-type. Wait a minute…

~0~0~0~

Jazz pulled out a Net Ball. "Slowking, I need you!" In a flash of light, a pink Pokémon wearing a sea shell-like crown on its head appeared.

Coach Teslaff blew her whistle. "Begin!"

"I've always wanted to say this! Surf's up, Slowking!" exclaimed Jazz. Knowing what she meant, Slowking summoned a huge wave of water to appear at his feet. Riding on the wave, he charged at Bastiodon. The dinosaur was soaked from head to tail.

"That was Surf!" Brock exclaimed. "A powerful Water-type move!"

"It sure looked powerful too!" Dawn added.

"Pipiplup!" Piplup stammered.

"Don't panic, Bastiodon!" assured Tucker. "Use Earthquake!" Bastiodon once again stomped his two front feet, shaking the ground and knocking Slowking off his feet.

"Careful, Slowking!" Jazz warned her Psychic Pokémon. "Use Water Pulse!" A sphere of water appeared in Slowking's hands. He then threw it in Bastiodon's head. "Now do Headbutt!" Slowking charged his head at Bastiodon's face, doing some but not much damage.

"Flash Cannon!" Tucker ordered. The silvery beam of light launched from Bastiodon's mouth again, hitting the Royal Pokémon.

Jazz could tell that Slowking wasn't going to give in yet. "Let's wrap this up! Use Surf again!" A wave of water formed once again underneath Slowking's feet. He rode the wave that then crashed Bastiodon, literally wiping him out.

Coach Teslaff blew her whistle and waved a flag in Jazz's direction. "Bastiodon is unable to battle. Slowking wins, which means that Jasmine Fenton is the winner!"

Jazz gleefully cheered. She then ran and embraced Slowking. "Thank you so much, Slowking! I knew you could do it." She then walked over to Tucker who just called his Bastiodon back. "Is your Bastiodon going to be okay?"

Tucker smiled a little. "Yeah, he'll live. I can't believe I lost."

Jazz put a hand on Tucker's shoulder. "You put up quite a fight. I'm impressed." The encouragement wasn't working. "Since your Pokémon need medical attention, that means you get to see Nurse Joy."

Tucker's face lit up. "You're right. Now that my Pokémon are hurt, that will give me an excuse to go to the Pokémon Center. Sweet!"

Jazz smiled and held out her hand. Tucker shook it as the audience cheered.

~0~0~0~

Jazz and Tucker met up with the others in the cafeteria. Glad that no feelings were hurt, the two groups went to get lunch while their injured Pokémon rested with Nurse Joy at the Pokémon Center.

Mr. and Mrs. Fenton caught up with them and congratulated the kids on a job well done.

"I'm so proud of you both!" Maddie exclaimed as she hugged and kiss her embarrassed children.

"Mom! Not in public!" the Fenton kids protested.

"Hey, we brought along Brock's friend," Jack piped up. "Said something about talking to Danny about something."

"Brock's friend?" asked Ash. Paul approached the two groups. "Hey Paul. What's up?"

Paul ignored Ash and turned his attention to Danny. "You're Daniel Fenton?" he asked.

Danny nodded. "Yeah, that's me. Can I help you?"

"I heard that you're a Ghost-Pokémon prodigy. Is that true?" Paul asked.

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I'm not _that_ good…" he answered modestly.

"Might as well admit you're a prodigy, little brother," Jazz said before Maddie had a chance to correct him. "You were able to knock out Kwan's Pokémon in less than ten minutes. If that doesn't say prodigy, I don't know what does."

"All right, I kind of am a prodigy," Danny admitted humbly.

Paul grunted. "Normally I'd challenge you to a battle but given the circumstances, I'm willing to wait until this tournament blows over."

"Uh…sure," Danny hesitantly answered. There was something about this Trainer that the raven-haired teenager didn't like. Whatever it was, it was intimidating.

"Hey Paul, how about we battle some time soon?" asked Ash.

Paul sneered at Ash. "I heard about your loss to Daniel. If you can't beat him then why should I bother?"

Danny's friends and sister dropped their jaws at Paul's blunt rejection.

"Yo! What's your problem, man?" asked Tucker exasperatedly. "A simple 'no thank you' would have been enough!"

"I may be a Goth but I'd never insult people _that_ harshly!" Sam exclaimed.

"What's the matter with you?" asked an equally angry Jazz. "Do you always insult people to make yourself feel better or something?"

Paul glared at all three of them. He looked at Jazz. "I prefer to call it the painful truth," he said to her. "You're Daniel's older sister, correct? At least you have _some_ of the same potential everyone claims he has." He looked at Sam. "You were just lucky you got to battle someone you can't stand. If it were someone else, you might have just lost." He then looked at Tucker. "You see Pokémon battles as a game. If you can't take battling seriously then don't bother battling at all."

Ash, Dawn and Brock held Sam, Tucker and Jazz back from beating Paul into a pulp.

"Um, how about we see how the tournament goes?" Danny asked nervously. "The second preliminary round starts soon and I need my three remaining Pokémon in tiptop shape."

"Fine. I can wait until this whole festival is over. I'll get my final Gym Badge in the meantime," Paul answered.

"Sounds good to me," Danny answered. "That way I can heal my Pokémon and train them and…whatever else I need to do to…have them…ready."

Paul then walked off without saying another word to Ash and the others.

The traveling trio released Danny's friends.

"What is with that jerk?" Sam asked angrily. "Does he always belittle people like that?"

"That was Paul. He's Ash's rival," Dawn explained. "He believes that unleashing a Pokémon's true power is the key to battling or something like that."

"He mistreats his Pokémon while he's training them and if they don't measure up to his expectations, he releases them regardless of how long they've been with him," Ash grimly said as he remembered how Monferno – a Chimchar at the time – was treated when he was under Paul's care.

Danny winced. "Isn't that a little extreme?" he asked.

"I'll say. The Army treats their soldiers better than that," said Sam. "As soon as he comes back from getting his last Badge, Danny, kick his butt."

* * *

**I'm going to fast-forward through the 2nd preliminary rounds mainly because I've realized that I now have an odd number of main characters still in the tournament. Dash, Danny, Dawn and Sam are going to be in the semi-finals but what about Ash and Jazz? I've got to eliminate them from the tournament somehow but I don't know how! Help! **

**Don't try telling me to make one of those organization charts. I've tried... -_-'  
**

**Augh! I'm getting a headache just thinking about it! _  
**


	10. The Promise of the Moon Stone

**This will be kind of a filler chapter. I thought I'd show the rest of the gang's Pokemon just for the heck of it!  
**

**I think you guys will like this chapter! There will be plenty of fluff in it!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**Promise of the Moon Stone**

The second round of the preliminary matches flew by quickly. Ash fought against Jazz but the battle ended in a draw so both Trainers were eliminated. The semi-finals were tomorrow; Sam was to go against Dawn while Danny had to fight Dash. Both groups left their Pokémon at the Pokémon Center and went home to change into their regular clothes.

Their Pokémon were healed and ready to go when they got back. There was still time before the festival started so they hung out at the Center so their Pokémon can play.

Sam became even more worried about the tournament. "We're both in the semi-finals tomorrow, Danny," said Sam. "I know you can take Dash and I think I can take Dawn but…what if you and I are in the finals on Sunday?"

Now Danny was nervous. "Man, I was kind of hoping we wouldn't have to battle. I mean we do plenty of that on a regular basis. But this time we're fighting for a title."

"I don't want this tournament to change anything between us," Sam admitted, blushing.

Danny's cheeks became as red as Pikachu's. "It…it won't. We can't let something like a tournament get between us."

"But what if it does?"

Danny grabbed both her shoulders. "I promise that nothing like this will get between us, okay?" He pulled out a stone from his pocket. "I swear on my Moon Stone!"

Sam gasped. "Your Moon Stone? The one you found on our fossil dig?"

Danny nodded. "The same one. I think I'll use this as my lucky charm since you already have one. But it will also be a reminder of the promise I just made to you. If we both make it into the finals, let's promise that no matter the outcome, we'll still be friends."

Sam placed her hand on top of the Moon Stone in Danny's hand. "I promise," she vowed. Both looked at each other briefly before quickly looking away in embarrassment.

"Oh, come on! Where's the drama?" a voice whined.

Both Danny and Sam jumped and saw Tucker, Jazz, Ash, Dawn and Brock pop out of the nearby bushes.

Sam glowered at all of them. "All right! Whose idiotic idea was it to spy on us?"

Dawn and Ash pointed at Brock while Jazz pointed at Tucker ("Traitor," he muttered to her). Not knowing which idiot to chase, Sam called Ember out and ordered her to fry Brock's butt while she beat up Tucker.

Ash, Dawn, Jazz and Danny couldn't help but laugh at the hilarity that unfolded before them.

~0~0~0~

Thanks to Buneary's Ice Beam and Spectra's Blizzard, Brock and Tucker could put ice on their beaten faces and burnt rear-ends. Jazz took an immediate liking to Buneary and Pachirisu. Danny was rather fascinated with Ash's Gible since he's never seen one before.

"Hey, where are Brock and Tucker?" Sam wondered.

Ash, Jazz, Danny and Dawn pointed near the front desk where the two womanizers were flirting with Nurse Joy.

"So now that I'm out of the tournament, you need help with the Pokémon around here?" Tucker asked flirtatiously.

"And you don't have a date for the festival tonight, maybe you and I can – GAH!" Brock toppled over to the floor.

"ACK!" gagged Tucker who followed Brock to the floor. Croagunk used Poison Jab on both Trainers and dragged them away from Nurse Joy.

Both groups burst into laughter.

"I never thought Croagunk would use Poison Jab on anyone but Brock," laughed Dawn.

"I'm glad someone put some sense into Tucker. I'm just disappointed it wasn't me," Sam gasped between laughs. "That's it. I need to catch a Croagunk!"

"A simple tug on the ear works just fine too," said Ash.

The two groups went into the courtyard.

"Hey Danny, how about Ash and his friends get better acquainted with all our other Pokémon?" asked Jazz.

"Good idea," said Danny. He pulled out his six Pokéballs. "Hey guys! Come out and play!" In six flashes of light, Danny's six Pokémon appeared.

"You too!" Jazz, Sam and Tucker exclaimed as they tossed their Pokéballs into the air. Their Pokémon appeared in eighteen flashes of light.

Dawn's eyes widened in awe. "Wow! Look at them all!" She pulled out her Pokedex and approached Tucker's Pokémon.

_**"Loudred, the Big Voice Pokémon and the evolved form of Whismur. The shock waves from its cries can tip over trucks. It stomps its feet to power up.**_

_** "Magneton, the Magnet Pokémon and the evolved form of Magnemite. Many mysteriously appear when more sunspots dot the sun. A group can set off a magnetic storm."**_

"Now I've officially met all of Tucker's Pokémon," Dawn noted. "But why does he have a Loudred?"

"Because he doesn't know when to shut up," Sam explained blankly. "Do you have any idea how many times his big mouth got us into trouble?"

"Plus, he can't sing a single note," Danny added. "He's completely tone-deaf."

Jazz giggled. "Danny and Sam gave him Loudred as a birthday joke. It was only a Whismur at the time."

Tucker glowered at his friends.

Dawn moved her Pokedex to the only one of Sam's Pokémon that she didn't recognize.

_**"Mightyena, the Bite Pokémon and the evolved form of Poochyena. It chases down prey in a pack. It will only obey the commands of a skilled Trainer."**_

Danny was puzzled. "Sam, isn't that Wulf, your grandma's Mightyena?"

"Yeah why?" asked Sam. Wulf tackled Danny to the ground and started licking his face.

"Hahaha! Quit it, Wulf! That tickles!" Danny laughed.

Dawn looked at the Mightyena quizzically. "That Pokémon belongs to your grandmother, Sam?"

Sam smiled. "Yeah. Danny, Tucker and I played with Wulf all the time when we were little." Wulf then tackled Tucker to the ground and started licking his face too. "He grew to love all of us. He may be old but he can still fight."

Dawn then went toward Jazz's Pokémon.

_**"Girafarig, the Long Neck Pokémon. Its tail has a small brain. It bites to repel any foe from trying to sneak up on it from behind."**_

"Wow! Two brains in one Pokémon. Go figure," said Dawn.

~0~0~0~

Team Rocket's mouths were practically watering at the sight of all the Pokémon.

"We should have waited for the new twerps to show all their Pokémon," said Jessie.

"We're going to need a bigger robot," James said.

"Why steal the Pokémon now when we could nab 'em when they're in their Pokéballs?" suggested Meowth.

"Should we do that to snag the Ghost Twerp's Pokémon?" asked James.

"Him and the Goth Twerpette's," Meowth answered. "We grab the Pokémon in their Pokéballs when the Ghost Twerp's guard is down."

"You mean when he confesses his feelings to the Goth Twerpette?" Jessie asked for clarity.

"Exactly. Those lovebirds will be focused on each other that when we attack, they'll have no Pokémon to fight back with," said Meowth.

"But what about that little Misdreavous?" asked James.

"One little Pokémon against us? Nothing's gonna happen," assured Meowth. "I doubt that little spookette will put up that big of a fight. And if all goes well, we can also snag her too."

Jessie giggled gleefully. "That Ghost Twerp won't be that scary without his Pokémon to back him up."

"He'll be scared of _us_!" James exclaimed.

~0~0~0~

"Pika, pika!" Pikachu happily cried as he greeted Tucker's Magneton. He turned around and shook his tail. "Pika! Pikapikachu!"

"Magneton," the Magnet confirmed happily. One of its magnets touched Pikachu's tail and sparks came out of both Pokémon.

Pikachu then turned his attention to Tucker's Ampharos. "Pikapikachu! Pika!" he said as he turned around and shook his tail again.

Ampharos smiled. "Ros! Ampharos!" Like Pikachu, he turned around and shook his tail. Both tails met and sparks came out of both of them.

Jazz, witnessing it, smiled. "Aww! Isn't that cute? Pikachu's made some new friends."

Tucker nodded. "I'm guessing that's some kind of greeting or something Electric Pokémon do. I remember Ampharos doing that when he was a Mareep. He did the same thing when Magneton joined my team only it was a Magnemite."

Ash agreed. "I've seen Pikachu do something similar to other Electric Pokémon. I think it's their way of shaking hands."

Sam then noticed some of the other Pokémon. "Take a look. Alakazam, Gardevoir, Spectra, Croagunk, Buizel, Slowking and Wulf are all watching over them," she pointed out. Sure enough, all said Pokémon were sitting in the shade watching the other Pokémon play.

"It's nice to see our Pokémon getting along with yours," said Jazz. "We rarely see any other Pokémon around these parts. And if we do, it's only because someone caught it while on vacation or it was a gift."

"That explains why so many Trainers have Pokémon that aren't common in this region," Brock realized. "They go to different regions and catch them there."

"Exactly," said Tucker.

"PIPLUP!"

The trainers turned their attention to Piplup, who was being picked on by a wild Haunter.

Danny growled. "I'll take care of this," he said. He walked over to the Haunter to confront it. "Mind telling me why you're picking on Piplup?"

"Haunter. Haunter, Haunt!"

"You have a weird way of showing it. Why not ask?"

"Haunthaunthaunt. Haunter."

Danny thought about something for a moment then got an idea. "I know someone who would _love_ to play your games." He motioned Haunter to come closer with his finger. The wild Ghost Pokémon drew closer. Danny then whispered something to Haunter, who then smiled.

"Haunter! Haunter, haunter, haunt! Haunter!" he thanked Danny shaking his hand. The Ghost Pokémon then faded away. Danny then walked back to his friends snickering.

"What did you tell the Haunter, Danny?" asked Sam.

"I told him that there's someone else who will enjoy his pranks more than us," Danny replied proudly.

Catching on, Jazz asked, "Danny, did you send him where I think you sent him?"

Danny's smirk grew into a mischievous grin. "Oh, I did send him there."

Ash looked at Danny and Jazz, completely lost. "What are you guys talking about?"

~0~0~0~

The festival began at dusk. Everyone wore a kimono to it. Danny's kimono was black with a white belt tied in the middle, complete with a pouch tied to the belt. Jazz wore a sky blue kimono with a black obi (sash). Maddie's was aqua blue with a black obi too. Jack's kimono was bright orange with a black belt tied in the middle (it was actually two belts tied together).

"This is going to be the best festival ever!" Jack exclaimed.

Maddie rolled her eyes. "Jack, you say that every year."

Jack blinked then smiled. "Then it's going to be better than last year's!"

His family sighed as they entered the park where the festival was held. Booths were set up everywhere; food stands, games, arts and crafts, and merchandise. Carnival rides were also set up.

Jazz and Danny went on their own and rode on the teacups, the merry-go-round, and went through the fun house three times. They soon met up with Sam and Tucker near the food booths.

"Hey guys," Jazz greeted.

"Dude! You gotta try a deep-fried pretzel! Maybe I can eat vegetables like this!" Tucker exclaimed with his mouth full. His kimono was yellow with a green belt. A pouch with a square object inside dangled from his belt. Danny immediately knew that it was Tucker's PDA inside the pouch.

Sam rolled her eyes. "I'd rather eat out of the garbage than eat something like that!" she exclaimed. Danny's jaw dropped at Sam's appearance. Her kimono was royal purple. Lavender flowers decorated it. Her obi was evergreen. Her black hair was pulled up in a bun.

"W-W-Wow! Sam, you look…amazing!" Danny stuttered.

Sam blushed cherry red. "You look pretty good yourself. Black is definitely your color." Now Danny was blushing!

"Hey look!" said Tucker. "There's Ash and the gang!" He waved them over. Brock immediately zoomed over to Sam and Jazz.

"You're both so beautiful! I don't know which one of you I should date!" he exclaimed eccentrically. Sam and Jazz grew nervous at Brock's advances. Luckily Croagunk came to their rescue. "GAH!" He fell to the ground, paralyzed once again by the Poison-type Pokémon.

Danny and his friends took note at the trio's outfits. Ash wore a blue and yellow kimono. Brock's was brown and green. Dawn's was pink and purple. Even Pikachu and Piplup were dressed for the occasion.

Both groups spent the entire evening exploring the festival, going on rides, looking at Pokémon merchandise, playing games, and eating deep-fried food much to Sam's disgust.

Before the festival ended for the night, there was a fireworks display. Danny pulled Sam aside to get good seats on a small hill. They sat underneath a tree as fireworks exploded in the sky.

"I'm kind of nervous about tomorrow," said Sam.

"You're nervous about battling Dawn?" asked Danny.

Sam sighed. "Yeah. In a way. Over the past few days I can't help but grow to like her despite how much she likes pink."

Danny chuckled. "Maybe you can teach her to like black," he suggested.

Sam laughed. "I think I might just do that." She then grew serious. "If you do beat Dash and I beat Dawn, that means we'll be in the finals."

"Sam, I told you. It doesn't matter who wins the tournament in the finals. I refuse to let it get between us!" Danny declared. Realizing what he just said, both teenagers went red in the face.

"D-Danny? Do you mean that?" Sam asked hesitantly.

Danny then pulled out his Moon Stone from the pouch that hung from his belt. Without warning, he broke it in half.

Sam gasped. "Danny! Why did you –?"

He gave one half of it to Sam. "This will be a reminder of our promise. If we do make it to the finals, let's promise right now that we'll remain friends whoever the winner will be!"

Sam turned bright red. She then took her half of the Moon Stone and pocketed it. "I promise," she whispered.

The two teens made eye contact with each other. They leaned in toward each other. Their faces were inches apart when they heard someone sneeze, surprising them both.

Sam turned toward the source of the sound. "Alright! Show yourself whoever you are!"

Ash, Dawn, Brock, Jazz and Tucker came out from behind the tree. Jazz pointed to Tucker again while Dawn and Ash pointed to Brock. Both angry, the lovebirds called out Ember and Bertrand to chase the womanizers.

* * *

**Like the Pokemon I chose for everyone?**

**I chose Loudred for Tucker because of Tucker's...well, big mouth! You remember how many times Tucker got the gang in trouble because he wouldn't keep quiet? Loudred naturally has a big mouth so it was perfect for Tucker.  
**

**The scene with Pikachu and Tucker's Electric Pokemon was similar from 'Pikachu's Rescue Adventure'. I always thought it was pretty cute!  
**

**Take a wild guess where Danny sent that wild Haunter!  
**


	11. Sam Vs Dawn

**This is it! The semifinals! Dawn will finally have her match against Sam. Who will win?  
**

**Sam will teach Dawn to appreciate the color black! I've seen Dawn in a lot of pink outfits so I thought she'd read from the book of Sam and wear black!  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**Sam Vs. Dawn**

"Sam, I don't think this costume suits me," said Dawn the next morning. Dawn and Piplup spent the night at the Manson's last night so Sam can find a costume suitable for her. Right now Dawn was wearing a masquerade dress that look similar to a Chatot.

Sam grimaced. "Eww…That is way too feathery." Piplup thought Dawn looked hilarious.

"I don't want to battle you looking like a singing parrot!" Dawn exclaimed.

"I told Mom you'd look ridiculous in that," Sam said flatly. "Here, try my masquerade dress." Moments later, Dawn came out of the bathroom looking like a Sneasel. The dress was bluish-black with a yellow gem on the choker. Her gloves as well as her shoes were a silvery white. On the back of the dress were pink feather-like accessories. To complete the outfit was a matching bluish-black mask with a yellow gem in the center of it as well as two pink feather-like accessories sticking out of the left side of the mask.

Dawn looked at her reflection in the mirror. "I look like a Sneasel!" Sam winced, afraid that Dawn may not like the dress. "I…I…LOOK AWESOME!" Dawn exclaimed. "This is an awesome costume! I almost look like the real thing!"

Sam released a sigh of relief. "Great. I was afraid that you wouldn't like it."

"Are you kidding? This will be a nice surprise for Ash and Brock," said Dawn. "Although, I still think I should have worn one of my Contest outfits…"

"Oh no!" Sam started. "You're wearing a _costume_, not a fancy-shmancy dress! This is a tournament, not a Contest!"

"If you say so," said Dawn.

Sam turned to Piplup. "What do you think? Does she look good in this or what?"

Piplup got a closer look. He then gave Dawn a reassuring smile. "Piplup!"

Sam grinned. "Like you always say, 'No need to worry.'"

"What are you going to wear?" asked Dawn.

"I'm going to dress as a Gothic princess," said Sam.

Dawn's eyes widen. "You? A princess? I thought you hated stuff like that!"

"I said _Gothic_ princess," Sam corrected. "That means I'll be wearing a black dress, black makeup, pieces of armor, the works."

Dawn sweat-dropped at the description. "Uh,…cool…"

~0~0~0~

Meanwhile at Fenton Works, Danny was getting his costume in his backpack.

"Miss?" Lilith appeared in Danny's room, wishing him good luck. "Misdreavous!"

Danny smiled at the Ghost Pokémon. "Thanks Lilith. Today's the day I finally get back at Dash for twelve years of swirlies, wedgies, and locker stuffing."

"Misdreavous?"

"I've known him since kindergarten. He hasn't stopped picking on me since! Believe me, beating him in the tournament is going to feel sweet!" Danny exclaimed excitedly. "You've been practicing the Flaming Heart?"

"Miss-dreavous!" Lilith exclaimed winking.

"I hope Sam likes it. We've worked hard and tomorrow will pay off!"

"Miss!" Lilith cheered.

Danny ran downstairs to wait for Ash, Brock and Jazz to come down.

"Chu-pi!" Pikachu ran frantically into the living room and hopped on the couch. For some reason he was wearing an orange jumpsuit his size. A hole was cut in the back for his tail to stick out.

Danny groaned. "Don't tell me my dad got you to wear that!"

"Pikapika! Chaaa!" Pikachu cried.

"I'm going to guess that you tried shocking my dad into letting you go," Danny assumed.

"Pi!" Pikachu nodded.

"And it didn't work?"

"Pi!"

"DAD! WHAT DID YOU DO TO PIKACHU?" Danny shouted.

Jack came running up from the basement. "Sorry, son. Last night I saw the little guy in that outfit and it reminded me of that little jumpsuit I tried to get yours and Jazz's Pokémon to wear," Jack explained.

"Ash is going to have a Miltank when he sees Pikachu like this," said Danny.

Maddie came to the top of the stairs upon hearing the conversation. Pikachu ran up the stairs and started pleading.

"Awww… Don't you look adorable!" she exclaimed.

"Mom! Dad put it on him against his will!" Danny exclaimed.

Maddie rolled her eyes and sighed. "Jack, we talked about this. You have to ask first," she said, picking up the electric rodent. "Come on, sweetie. Let's get this off you before your friends come down."

"PiPikachu!" thanked Pikachu.

~0~0~0~

"Welcome to the Semifinals of the Founder's Day Festival Tournament," Lancer announced.

Jack, Maddie, Jazz, Tucker, Ash, Pikachu, and Brock were sitting in the stands. Paul was also in the stands but he sat farther away from the group. Team Rocket was also there using their cover from yesterday to watch the match.

"Our first match is between Miss Dawn and Miss Samantha Manson," said Lancer. "It will be a three-on-three battle. This match will end when one of the trainer's three Pokémon are unable to battle.

The gang saw the girls' costumes. Dawn's outfit was a masquerade dress made to look like a Sneasel. Sam looked like a Gothic princess complete with messy makeup and a tiara with a skull shaped green gem. Her DP choker was visible around her neck.

"Wow. Dawn looks…different," Ash stated.

"I've never seen her dress like that," added Brock.

"That looks like something that came from Sam's closet," Tucker noted.

"That explains why Sam invited Dawn over last night," Jazz realized.

On the Jumbo Screen, a wheel spun and the arrow landed on Dawn. She'd go first.

"Ambipom! Spotlight!" Dawn cried as she threw her Pokéball. A purple monkey with two tails appeared in a flash of light.

"Just because we're friends doesn't mean I'll go easy on you!" said Sam. "Let's go, Ember!" The Houndoom appeared from Sam's Pokéball.

Coach Teslaff blew her whistle, signaling the beginning of the battle.

"Okay, Ambipom! Double Team!" Dawn ordered. Ambipom's body glowed briefly and several copies of Ambipom appeared and surrounded Ember. The Fire-type Pokémon looked around trying to figure out which Ambipom was the real one. "Now, do Swift attack!" The real Ambipom swung her tail and several stars came out of it striking Ember.

"Ember! Fire Spin!" said Sam. A vortex of fire erupted from Ember's mouth, scorching the two-tailed monkey. Ambipom was scorched, but still able to battle.

"Now Ambipom! Use Focus Punch!" ordered Dawn. Blue energy surrounded the fists on Ambipom's tails. It landed a sucker punch on Ember.

"Man! This monkey is tougher than I thought," Sam muttered to herself. "Ember, use Flamethrower!" Ember shot fire from her mouth.

"Ambipom, dodge and use Double Hit!" ordered Dawn. Ambipom's two tails glowed purple and advanced towards Ember.

"Ember! Stop that attack with Crunch!" said Sam. Ember stopped one of Ambipom's fists but the second tail landed on Ember's back causing the Fire Pokémon to let go of the first tail. Ember tried to get up but it fell back to the ground unable to go on.

Coach Teslaff blew her whistle. "Houndoom is unable to battle! Ambipom wins!"

The stands cheered. Sam clenched her fists. She underestimated the young Coordinator. "Great job, Ember. Return." The dog-like Pokémon disappeared back into its Pokéball.

~0~0~0~

Tucker whistled. "That Ambipom is tougher than I thought!"

"You can thank Ash for that," said Brock. "Ambipom used to belong to him."

Maddie couldn't help but overhear the conversation. "I'm sorry, did you say that Ambipom used to belong to Ash?"

Ash smiled. "Yeah. I caught her as an Aipom when I was at the Battle Frontier in the Kanto Region."

"What made you give it to Dawn?" asked Jazz.

"Well, I've noticed that Aipom seemed to like Contests and Dawn noticed that her Buizel liked battling," Ash explained.

"Whoa! Back up!" Tucker interrupted. "Let me get this straight. Ambipom used to belong to you," he said to Ash who nodded, "and Ash's Buizel used to belong to Dawn I'm assuming?"

Brock nodded. "That's right. Someone suggested that they'd trade so their Pokémon could be happier."

"We were a bit reluctant at first but eventually we agreed to trade," finished Ash.

Jazz nodded. "That explains why Ambipom is so strong. I read that Pokémon that are traded tend to grow stronger faster than an average Pokémon in a Trainer's party."

"Cool!" Tucker exclaimed. "I always knew that your Alakazam and Danny's Gengar were the strongest Pokémon in your parties but I never knew why."

Maddie smiled. "Which means that when you and Danny trade your Pokémon to evolve them, they'll grow stronger more rapidly."

Tucker's face lit up. "Which means Porygon2 will be stronger than ever! Sweet!"

Jazz rolled her eyes. "Tucker, Porygon2 grew stronger when you temporarily traded Porygon to me to evolve it and my Slowpoke."

~0~0~0~

Sam pulled out another Pokéball. "Your turn, Undergrowth!" The Grass-type Pokémon appeared in a flash of light. Teslaff blew her whistle. "Undergrowth, use Energy Ball!" A sphere of green energy appeared in Undergrowth's hands. He then threw it directly at Ambipom.

"Ambipom! Use Double Hit again!" Dawn ordered. Ambipom's tails glowed purple again and charged towards Undergrowth.

Sam was ready this time. "Undergrowth, use Mega Drain!" Vines shot out of the Tangrowth's body and grabbed Ambipom's tails.

This caught Dawn by surprise. "Huh? What the?" The vines gripping Ambipom's tails glowed green. Her body then started glowing green as well. Ambipom tried pulling her tails away but Undergrowth wouldn't let go. In a matter of seconds, Ambipom's strength slowly began to dissipate.

"Ambipom, use Swift!" said Dawn. The fists on the monkey's tails lit up and stars shot out of them, striking Undergrowth at close range making him let go of Ambipom. At this point Ambipom looked exhausted.

"Undergrowth, finish it off with Vine Whip!" Sam exclaimed. Vines shot out of the Tangrowth's body and struck Ambipom several times. The purple monkey then collapsed.

Coach Teslaff blew her whistle. "Ambipom is unable to battle! Tangrowth wins!"

Danny pumped his fist while watching the match in the cafeteria. The crowd in the stands cheered. Dawn called Ambipom back and thanked her for a job well done.

"Now, Mamoswine, spotlight!" Dawn exclaimed as she threw another Pokéball. A large Pokémon that looked like a cross between a wooly mammoth and a wild boar appeared on the battlefield.

Teslaff blew her whistle. "And begin!"

"Undergrowth, Sleep Powder!" said Sam. Sparkling blue powder appeared from Undergrowth's body. Mamoswine's body began rocking back and forth until it eventually plopped on the ground, fast asleep.

"Oh no! Mamoswine, wake up!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Okay, Undergrowth, use Energy Ball!" commanded Sam. Another sphere of green energy appeared in Undergrowth's hands and launched it at the sleeping Pokémon. It didn't even stir.

"Oh come on!" Dawn cried. "You'd think something like that would wake you up!"

"Undergrowth, use Vine Whip," said Sam. Vines struck Mamoswine repeatedly, waking it up.

"Uh-oh," Sam muttered. Mamoswine snorted irritably at being woken up.

"Finally! Alright, Mamoswine, use Ice Shard!" Dawn said excitedly. A sphere of ice appeared between Mamoswine's tusks and launched it at Undergrowth.

"Hurry, Undergrowth! Use Energy Ball!" Sam exclaimed. Undergrowth launched another sphere of green energy at the oncoming Ice Shard. Both spheres collided a little close to Undergrowth, freezing part of his body. "Undergrowth, you okay?" Her Grass-type Pokémon was too busy trying to chip the ice off his body to answer.

"Okay, Mamoswine, use AncientPower!" said Dawn.

A sphere of white energy appeared in-between Mamoswine's tusks and launched it at Undergrowth.

"Undergrowth! Use Mega Drain!" said Sam. Vines gripped Mamoswine's tusks and started draining the Pokémon.

"Come on, Mamoswine! Use Ice Shard again!" said Dawn. Another sphere of ice appeared and shot it at Undergrowth, making him let go and knocking him out.

Teslaff blew her whistle. "Tangrowth is unable to battle! Mamoswine wins!"

"No! Undergrowth!" Sam cried. She called her Pokémon back. She then pulled out another Pokéball. "You're my last hope, Shadow!" The Absol appeared in a flash of light.

Teslaff blew her whistle. "Go!"

"Show no mercy, Shadow! Night Slash!" ordered Sam. The horn on Shadow's head glowed purple and struck Mamoswine.

Dawn could tell her Pokémon was getting tired but she refused to back down. "Hidden Power!" Spheres of energy appeared around Mamoswine's body and fired at Shadow.

"Wrap it up with Hyper Beam!" said Sam. Shadow shot a beam of energy from his mouth and hit the Twin Tusk Pokémon, knocking it out. "Wow, that was fast," Sam muttered to herself.

"Mamoswine is unable to battle! Absol wins!" announced Teslaff after blowing her whistle.

The crowd cheered but our heroes were nervous. Danny, who watched from the cafeteria, was the most nervous. On the one hand, if Dawn won then he wouldn't have to worry about battling Sam. On the other hand, there's the possibility that he'd lose to Dash and his Pokémon could annihilate Dawn in the finals.

Dawn then pulled out her third Pokéball. "Pachirisu, spotlight!" A squirrel-like Pokémon appeared on the battlefield.

Teslaff blew her whistle. "And begin!"

"Pachirisu, use Sweet Kiss!" said Dawn. Pachirisu blew a kiss shaped like a heart to Shadow. It struck Shadow who became confused.

"Oh no! Shadow!" Sam cried.

"Now, Pachirisu, use Spark!" ordered Dawn. The squirrel's body became covered in electricity and charged into Shadow snapping him out of confusion.

"Yes!" Sam cheered. "Shadow, use Shadow Claw!" Dark energy enveloped one of Shadow's front paws. He swiped at Pachirisu's face.

"Pachirisu, use Discharge!"

Pachirisu unleashed a storm of electricity onto Shadow.

"Shadow! Razor Wind!" yelled Sam. The horn on Shadow's head lit up. Shadow swung his head and released a blade of energy at Pachirisu. "Now, finish it off with Hyper Beam!" Another beam of energy shot out of Shadow's mouth hitting Pachirisu and knocking it out.

Coach Teslaff blew her whistle and waved a flag in Sam's direction. "Pachirisu is unable to battle! Absol wins and the winner of this match is Samantha Manson!" she announced.

The crowd cheered. Danny released a sigh of relief. Sam ran to her Absol and embraced him.

"We won, Shadow! We're going to the finals!" Sam exclaimed.

Shadow smiled. "Ab! Absol!" He and Sam then approached Dawn who called back her Pachirisu.

"Hey, your Pachirisu going to be okay?" asked Sam.

Dawn smiled. "Yeah. I'm sure it'll be just fine."

Sam held out her hand. "I gotta be honest with you. I underestimated you. You were tougher than I thought. Good battle."

Dawn's smile grew wider. "Thanks Sam. I'm glad we could finally battle," she said. She then took Sam's hand and shook it. The two girls then left the football field to meet up with Danny and the others for lunch. As soon as lunch is over, it will be Danny's turn.

* * *

**Yay! Sam won! Let me remind you that Dawn needed six Pokemon to enter the tournament so she had to get her Ambipom back temporarily. **

**Next up is Danny's match with Dash! Start placing your bets!  
**


	12. Payback Time! Danny Vs Dash

**Part 2 of the semifinals! It's one of battles you've all been waiting for!  
**

**To make things interesting (and the chapter longer) I've allowed you to take a peek at what goes on between Danny and his Pokemon when their minds are linked. I think you'll like the mental conversations they have between each other. Their conversations will be in italics, just so you know.  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**Payback Time! Danny Vs. Dash**

Dawn and Sam dashed into the locker room to change their clothes. Dawn was disappointed that she lost but she was also happy that she could finally battle Sam.

"I can't believe you underestimated me!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Well, after seeing your Pokémon for the last few days, I didn't expect you to use Mamoswine," Sam shrugged. "That thing can really pack a punch!"

Dawn giggled. "That just proves that I'm tougher than I look," she replied with a wink.

Sam winked back. "That's one mistake I won't make again."

The two walked out of the locker room and met up with Ash, Brock, Danny, Tucker and Jazz.

"Dawn, I've never seen you dress like that," Ash stated.

"You can thank Sam for that," said Dawn. "I didn't think I'd look good in black."

"But I proved her wrong," Sam added.

Jazz then noticed someone walking in their direction. "Hey, there's your friend," she said. Paul walked up to the group. The same cold expression was visible in his eyes.

"Hey Paul," Brock greeted. "What did you think of the match?"

"I'll be honest, it was better than yesterday's battle," Paul answered coolly. He looked at Sam. "While your Tangrowth and Absol are strong fighters, it's best if you got rid of your Houndoom."

"What? Why would I do something like that?" Sam asked angrily.

"Despite the fact that it knows powerful moves, it's not so powerful itself," Paul explained.

Sam growled. "Ember's plenty powerful! The only reason she lost was because of Ambipom's Focus Punch. That move is a Fighting-type which is more powerful on Dark-types. If I knew Ambipom knew that move, I would have chosen a different Pokémon. No offense, Dawn."

Dawn shrugged. "None taken."

Paul glared at Sam. "I hope the rest of your Pokémon are as strong as your Tangrowth and Absol."

Brock and Jazz lunged at Sam before she could land a punch in Paul's face.

"Take it easy, Sam. We're used to it," assured Brock.

"He's not worth it, Sam," said Jazz. "Don't antagonize him further."

Sam glowered at Brock. "And you're friends with him how?"

"It's actually more of a rivalry," said Brock.

Paul then approached Danny. "It's not my style to say this but I hope you win the semifinals. I'd hate to see a Pokémon prodigy lose to the local oaf."

"Uh…right," Danny nervously answered. He didn't really know how to reply to Paul's statement.

~0~0~0~

After a quick lunch, the second half of the semifinals was underway. Sam and Dawn watched the tournament from the Pokémon Center where they waited for their Pokémon to recover. Ash, Brock, Jazz, Paul, and Tucker went back to the stands to watch the match.

Danny and Dash came to the field in their costumes. Danny was dressed like he was from the 80s. Dash was dressed like a football player.

"For the second half of the semifinals we have Daniel Fenton against Dashiel Baxter. This will be a three-on-three battle. The battle will end when one Trainer's Pokémon are unable to battle," Lancer announced.

The wheel on the Jumbo Screen spun and landed on Dash's face. Danny gulped. He knew that he had the type advantage but that didn't mean that Dash had some tricks of his own up his sleeve.

"Marowak, hike!" Dash yelled, throwing a Pokéball. A dinosaur-like Pokémon walking on two legs appeared on the battlefield. Its head looked like a skull. It held a bone in its hand.

~0~0~0~

_**"Marowak, the Bone Keeper Pokémon and the evolved form of Cubone. From its birth, this savage Pokémon constantly carries bones and is skilled at using them as weapons."**_

"I don't think I can like a Pokémon that uses bones as weapons," Dawn said nervously. "Doesn't it have respect for the dead?"

"I read that Marowak uses the bones of its mother as weapons," Sam said.

"Pip-LUP?"

"Well, as a Cubone it wears its mother's skull as a helmet," Sam defended.

"PIIIPP-LUUUPPP!" Piplup shrieked in fear.

Sam bonked the Penguin Pokémon on the head to shut him up. "Be quiet! It's starting!"

~0~0~0~

Danny's icy blue eyes became neon green as he threw his Pokéball. "Going ghost! Spooky!" Spooky the Gengar appeared in a flash of light. _SLURP!_ He turned and started licking Danny's face affectionately. "Now is not the time or the place! Quit it!" Spooky then went onto the battlefield.

Seeing Spooky's behavior made Danny more nervous about how Paul would think about him. The way Paul acted reminded Danny of Simon Cowell for some reason. Only Paul was ten times meaner and didn't have a sense of humor.

Coach Teslaff blew her whistle signaling the beginning of the battle.

"You're going down, Fen-turd!" Dash taunted. "Marowak! Use Brick Break!" Marowak pounded his fist on Spooky's head but his fist went right through the Ghost Pokémon. "What the? How could this happen? I thought only Normal-type moves didn't work on Ghost Pokémon."

_"Geez, Danny-boy! I know you told me that this guy was stupid but I didn't think he'd be THIS stupid! Doesn't he know that Fighting-type moves do nothing to me?"_

_ "I told you he was a moron, Spooky. You'd think he'd know that! Let's start nice and slow then go from there."_

_ "You got it."_

Danny's green eyes flashed. "Let's warm this up with Lick attack!"

Spooky literally licked Marowak's face sending chills down its spine.

Dash noticed Danny's change in eye color and freaked out. "What the heck is up with your eyes, Fenton? You just went from geek to freak!"

Danny's eyes flashed again in anger. "I'll show you how tough this freak really is! Spooky! Use Night Shade!" Dark energy blasted from Spooky's eyes directly at Marowak.

Dash gritted his teeth. "You're going down, freak! Marowak, use Bonemerang!"

Marowak threw its bone at Spooky who quickly jumped into the air and levitated above the ground. Spooky then pulled down his lower eyelid and stuck his tongue out at Marowak.

~0~0~0~

Ash was surprised at Spooky's battle. "Wow! How did Spooky dodge Bonemerang like that?"

"It's the ability called Levitate," Jazz explained. "Pokémon with this ability are completely immune to all Ground-type attacks."

"And since Dash is a complete nincompoop who doesn't know about that, Danny has the upper-hand," Tucker finished confidently.

"Remember, Ash? You've seen something like this during your battle with Fantina," Brock reminded.

~0~0~0~

Seeing that Marowak was going nowhere with this, Dash called Marowak back. He then released a navy blue Pokémon with a swirl on its belly. "Poliwrath!" it cried.

Dawn pulled out her Pokedex.

_**"Poliwrath, the Tadpole Pokémon and the evolved form of Poliwhirl. With its extremely tough muscles, it can keep swimming in the Pacific Ocean without tiring."**_

"And I thought swimming across the English Channel was a challenge," Dawn muttered.

~0~0~0~

_"Looks like the moron has a brain after all! He actually switched out!"_

_ "That doesn't mean he can still pack a punch. Let me bring in Youngblood. You need to save your strength. Knowing Dash, he'll probably use Machamp."_

_ "Good idea. I've got a bone to pick with that four-armed freak anyway! Switch me out."_

Danny pulled out Spooky's Pokéball. "Spooky, come back," he said as Spooky disappeared back into its Pokéball. Danny then pulled out a Friend Ball. "Youngblood, it's your turn!" The Puppet Pokémon appeared in a flash of light.

Dash laughed. "That Ghost Pokémon is as puny as you are, Fen-toad! This will be easy! Poliwrath, use Bubblebeam!" Bubbles shot out of Poliwrath's swirl and hit Youngblood.

"Youngblood! You okay?" Danny asked in concern. Youngblood nodded and readied itself to attack. "In that case, start with Will O' Wisp!" Like Lilith (who was watching the match on TV at home), blue tongues of fire appeared around Youngblood. He then launched them at Poliwrath, burning him.

_"Ha ha! Take that you tadpole out of water!"_

_ "Actually, the proper term is 'fish out of water'."_

_ "Really? 'Fish out of water'? But Poliwrath is a Tadpole Pokémon."_

_ "I didn't come up with the name of the species. Ask someone else."_

"Now, Poliwrath, use Water Pulse!" Dash ordered. A sphere of water was launched at Youngblood from the swirl on Poliwrath's belly. A fire briefly flashed on Poliwrath's body.

"Ha! I knew that was a good idea!" Danny exclaimed. "Shock Wave, Youngblood!" Electricity flashed from Youngblood's body and launched it onto Poliwrath doing massive damage.

"Thank you, Tucker for giving me TM34 for my birthday," Danny muttered to himself.

"Come on, Poliwrath, use Focus Punch!" Dash ordered. One of Poliwrath's fists lit up and tried to punch Youngblood but to no avail. Danny face-palmed.

_"Either he's never seen a Shuppet like me before or he doesn't know I'm a Ghost-type."_

_ "Or both."_

"Youngblood, finish it off with Shadow Ball!" Danny ordered. A shadowy sphere appeared from the tip of Youngblood's horn. He then launched it at Poliwrath. At this point, the Tadpole Pokémon looked dead on its feet.

"I'm not quitting yet!" yelled Dash. "Now, Poliwrath, use Bubblebeam again!" Bubbles once again shot out of Poliwrath's swirl, hitting Youngblood.

"Keep going, Youngblood! Finish it off with another Shock Wave!" A wave of electricity came out of Youngblood's body, shocking Poliwrath and knocking it out.

Coach Teslaff blew her whistle. "Poliwrath is unable to battle! Shuppet wins!"

The crowd cheered. It seemed that more than just Danny's friends and family were rooting for him. Some of the nerds and geeks were also cheering for Danny. Some even brought banners to show their support. Danny wasn't the only one who had a score to settle with Dash.

"You're going to pay for this, Fenton!" Dash yelled as he called Poliwrath back. He then called Marowak back into the battlefield.

Teslaff blew her whistle. "And begin!"

"Marowak! Use Bone Rush!" ordered Dash. Marowak charged at Youngblood and swung his bone like a baseball bat at Youngblood.

"No! Youngblood!" cried Danny. Youngblood caught himself before hitting the ground. "Alright then. Use Night Shade!" Youngblood launched dark energy from his eyes at the Bone Keeper Pokémon.

"Marowak, use Bone Rush again to deflect it!" said Dash. Marowak advanced towards Youngblood, twirling his bone like a baton as he went. When he got close enough, he struck Youngblood again, knocking him out.

Teslaff blew her whistle again. "Shuppet is unable to battle! Marowak wins!"

"Ha! In your face, Fen-turd!" taunted Dash.

Youngblood came to and started crying. Danny shook his head and sighed. "It is fair, Youngblood. Dash won fair and square. How about you rest?" Youngblood returned to his Friend Ball. Danny then pulled out another Pokéball. "Vortex, I need you next!" The Drifblim appeared in a flash of light.

Teslaff blew her whistle. "And begin!"

"Vortex, use Shadow Ball now!" Danny exclaimed. A shadowy sphere appeared in front of Vortex's face and then launched it at Marowak. "Bulls-eye!"

"Marowak, use Bonemerang!" Marowak threw its bone at Vortex who simply floated a little higher from the ground and the attack missed him completely. "What? You gotta be kidding me!"

Danny, unimpressed with Dash's lack of knowledge, looked bored out of his mind. "I so don't have time for this," he said dully. "Vortex, use Shadow Ball again."

Vortex launched another Shadow Ball again hitting Marowak yet again.

"I'm not done yet!" yelled Dash. "Marowak, use Bonemerang again!" Marowak threw his bone again.

"Vortex, use Ominous Wind on the bone!" said Danny. Vortex blew purple wind at the bone, blowing it back at Marowak. The bone hit Marowak squarely on its forehead, knocking it out.

Teslaff blew her whistle again. "Marowak is unable to battle! Drifblim wins!"

The crowd cheered again. Vortex and Danny shared a high-five. Dawn and Sam bumped fists. Brock and Tucker were dancing in the stands. Ash, Maddie and Jazz were trying to keep Jack from cheering like a maniac and causing a scene.

Dash cursed and called Marowak back. "It's now or never, Machamp!" The four-armed Pokémon appeared on the battlefield.

Teslaff blew her whistle. "Begin!" Now Danny's friends, family, and even Team Rocket were chewing their fingernails as the match began.

"Vortex, return!" Danny called. Vortex returned to its Pokéball. Danny then pulled out another Pokéball. "Spooky, come back out!" The Gengar appeared in the battlefield. He was going to lick Danny again but when he saw Machamp, he stopped and narrowed his eyes in the Fighting-type's direction.

"This is for all those pranks that stupid Ghost Pokémon pulled on me after all these years!" Dash cried.

"Gar?" asked Spooky. "Gengengengar, Gengargar!"

Danny frowned. "Yeah! Spooky didn't pull pranks on you! He only scared you so you'd stop picking on me!"

"Gar!" Spooky nodded.

"No one messes with me! Machamp, use Foresight!" yelled Dash. Red beams of light shot out of Machamp's eyes. They hit Spooky but he wasn't hurt.

"Gar?"

"_What did Machamp do to me?"_

"_Foresight. It makes Ghost Pokémon vulnerable to physical attacks like Fighting-types and Normal-types."_

"Now, Machamp! Use DynamicPunch!" ordered Dash. Bluish-white aura appears in Machamp's fists. He punched Spooky with one of them, causing damage and confusing him.

"_Spooky?"_

"_A, B, C, D, E, F, G…."_

Danny's already green eyes flashed again. "Spooky, snap out of it!" Spooky blinked a couple of times and snapped out of his confusion.

"What the heck did you do, Fenton?" asked a bewildered Dash.

"It's called the element of surprise," Danny replied. "Spooky, Giga Drain!"

Spooky's tongue shot out of his mouth and wrapped around Machamp's waist. The tongue as well as Machamp's body glowed bright green. Spooky was draining Machamp's strength.

"Machamp, use Karate Chop on that stupid tongue!" Machamp literally karate chopped on Spooky's tongue causing him to let go. Spooky's poor tongue dangled from his mouth in pain.

"Don't give up, Spooky! Use Night Shade!" Danny ordered. Dark energy shot out of Spooky's eyes and hit Machamp.

"Machamp, use Cross Chop!" yelled Dash. Two of Machamp's arms cross and began to glow. He then started to charge at Spooky.

"_It's now or never, buddy. Let's use your new friend's strategy."_

Danny got Spooky's message and nodded. "Spooky, dodge and use Lick!" Spooky hopped out of the way and licked Machamp's back, sending a chill down his spine and stopping him in his tracks. Spooky gagged.

"_Yuck! Tastes like beef jerky, sweat and adrenaline! Doesn't this guy ever shower?"_

"_Wash your tongue later! Focus!"_

"Let's wrap this up with Night Shade!" Dark energy once again shot out of Spooky's eyes. It struck Machamp and knocked it out.

Coach Teslaff blew her whistle and waved the flag in Danny's direction. "Machamp is unable to battle! Gengar wins which means Daniel Fenton will proceed to the final match tomorrow!"

Half the student body erupted with cheers (mainly the ones who are below the A-listers). Danny was too overcome with excitement to realize that his next opponent was going to be Sam.

* * *

**Eeeek! The finals are coming! Now it's time to start placing you bets, people! Who will be victorious? Sam or Danny? **

**More coming your way!  
**


	13. Doubts

**It's short, I know. Be patient. Danny is going to get some advice from someone who is NOT Tucker! The final battle is next, I promise!  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

**Doubts**

As soon as Danny (now with normal blue eyes) stepped out of the locker room in his normal clothes, Jazz, Ash, Tucker, Pikachu, Brock, Maddie and Jack tackled him. Everyone congratulated and praised the raven-haired teenager.

"We're so proud of you, Danny!"

"You go, dude!"

"Way to go!"

"Awesome battle!"

"Pikapika!"

Danny poked his head out of the group of hugging people for air.

"Guys, give me air! It's getting hard to breathe!" Danny gasped. After getting more hugs and kisses from his family, the parents went home while the kids went to the Pokémon Center to heal Danny's Pokémon and to meet up with Dawn and Sam.

"We saw the whole thing on TV!" Dawn exclaimed. "That was awesome! The way your eyes glowed during the battle never cease to amaze me!"

Sam embraced Danny. He could tell by how tightly she hugged him that she was really nervous about tomorrow. "Keep in mind that I won't hold back tomorrow," she whispered to him.

"I'm not going to go easy on you either," Danny replied softly. "I'm looking forward to it."

Now Danny was getting nervous too. The winner gets a cash prize and a mystery prize (which varies every year) sponsored by the city. Not only that but the winner's name is written in the Book of Records and a huge trophy.

Tucker suddenly frowned. "Watch out. Here comes Captain Jerkface," he warned.

The kids turned and saw Paul approached them once again. Danny immediately became nervous again, this time because of Paul. If he looked intimidating by himself, Danny was terrified of what his Pokémon were like.

Sam scowled at Paul. "What do you want now? You're going to insult Danny's Pokémon too?"

Paul ignored her and turned his attention to Danny. "Interesting battle. Makes me wonder what makes your change in eye color significant. It makes you a formidable opponent."

"Uh…it's…um…something I can do for…uh…awhile," Danny stuttered nervously.

"I've noticed that you have feelings for tomorrow's opponent," Paul noted. Danny and Sam turned bright red. "You better push your emotions aside if you want to win; otherwise you're no better than Ash."

"Hey! I resent that!" Ash snapped.

"Then you better brace yourself because tomorrow you'll see a battle so incredible it will wipe that stupid scowl off your face!" Sam exclaimed.

"It better be a battle worth seeing," said Paul. "You two better not disappoint me, especially you, Daniel." With that he left the Pokémon Center without saying another word.

"AUGH! What a jerk!" Sam exclaimed.

"I'd like to see Spooky pull a prank on him," growled Tucker. "It would be nice to see something other than a scowl on that jerk's face."

"What is the mystery prize anyway?" asked Dawn.

"It changes every year," Danny explained. "Sometimes it's an internship with a Gym Leader. Sometimes it's a family trip to the Orange Islands."

"A lot of times the prize is a Pokémon Egg," added Jazz.

"What do you think the prize is this year?" asked Brock.

The four teens shrugged.

"Probably another Egg," assumed Danny.

"Maybe it's tickets to the Grand Festival or the Sinnoh League," Tucker guessed.

"Yeah right," Sam said skeptically.

~0~0~0~

The second evening of the Founder's Day Festival was cut short because Jack ate one deep-fried Twinkie too many. Dawn went back to Sam's while Ash and Brock returned to Fenton Works.

Lilith noticed how melancholy her master was. She may be a Pokémon but she was smart. After watching the semifinals on TV (Danny taught her how to use the remote) Lilith knew Danny's final opponent was the girl he was in love with and possibly her new master. By the look of things Danny seemed reluctant to battle Sam.

Seeing that Danny was going to need encouragement from more than just his family and friends, Lilith went to the only two people who have had experience with battling close friends: Ash and Brock. Lilith flew up to the Ops Center where Ash and Brock were quietly playing cards before bed. Pikachu was sleeping on Ash's bed.

Lilith nudged Pikachu a little to wake him up. His ear twitched and continued to sleep. Seeing that she'd get nowhere with the electric rodent, Lilith did what every Misdreavous was infamous for…

"OW!" yelled Ash. "Pikachu, did you pull my hair?"

"Pika?" Pikachu asked groggily.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

The scream caught everyone off guard. "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Lilith became visible for the two boys and Pokémon.

"What's Lilith doing here?" asked Brock.

"Did you pull my hair, Lilith?" Ash asked angrily.

"Miss," Lilith nodded.

"I know Misdreavous are known to pull people's hair and scream from behind," said Brock, "but Lilith doesn't seem like a mischief maker."

"Pika? Chu-pika-pikachu-pi?" Pikachu asked Lilith.

Lilith nodded. "Miss! Miss-miss-vous-dreavous!" She then snatched Ash's hat and flew out the door. Pikachu followed close behind.

"Pikachu! Lilith, give me back my hat!" Ash called. He and Brock chased the Pokémon to Danny's room.

~0~0~0~

"Pikachu? Lilith? What are you doing with Ash's hat?" asked Danny. He got his answer when Ash and Brock crashed into Danny's bedroom. "Well, that answers my question. What are you guys doing here?"

"Lilith stole my hat!" Ash accused.

Danny glared at Lilith. "Lilith! You know better than to steal Ash's hat! I thought I raised you better than that!"

Lilith dropped Ash's hat on Pikachu's head. She then turned to Danny. "Miss! Misdreavous-miss! Vous-miss!" she defended.

Danny turned red at what she said. "Don't drag them into this! And Brock doesn't count; he flirts with every pretty girl in sight!" Brock twitched at that.

"Miss? Miss-misdreavous! Dreavous-dreavous-vous!"

"He's too straight forward! If I try that I'm guaranteed a Manson black-eye!" Danny argued.

The two traveling trainers sweat-dropped at the argument they were witnessing. Neither of them could remember a time where a Trainer actually had a verbal argument with his Pokémon.

Ash decided to step in, "Uh, excuse me? Mind telling us what this is about?"

Both stopped arguing and looked at Ash. Danny's face fell and sighed. He sat on his bed, Lilith landing in his lap. "I'm kind of nervous about tomorrow," he started. "Sam and I are going to be actually battling for something. In the past, we used to have simple battles for no reason whatsoever. We just did it for the fun of it."

"I see. You're worried that the finals would affect your friendship," Ash realized.

"Well, Sam saw this a mile ahead of me," Danny confessed. "Everyone who has won the tournament not only get a cash prize but their popularity goes through the roof at school. I've been in and out of the A-listers for the past three years. Every one of those times I'd be blinded by my popularity to realize who my real friends are. Tucker understood; he's been trying to get popular for as long as I have. Sam never wanted it to begin with."

"Now it makes sense why Sam's nervous about you winning," Brock realized. "She's afraid of history repeating itself and losing you as a friend to the popular kids."

Danny nodded. "It's different now between us though. I promised her that no matter who wins, we'd still be friends." Danny then pulled out his half of the Moon Stone and showed it to Ash and Brock.

Brock recognized it right away from Tucker's story. "That's the Moon Stone you found during your class fossil dig!"

Ash and Pikachu (who returned Ash's hat) got a closer look at it. "That's a pretty small Moon Stone."

Danny gave him a deadpan look. "Thanks, Captain Obvious." He then looked at the rock in his hand. "Ever since I found it, it's been my prized possession. The other night I broke it in half and gave a piece to Sam. We each hold a half as a reminder of the promise we made. Somehow, I still think she doubts I'll keep it."

"Pikapika!" Danny looked up at Pikachu's determined face.

"Pikachu's right," said Ash. "You shouldn't think those things. You say that you're going to keep your promise so that's what you'll do! You don't need to be popular to have more friends. Just go out there tomorrow and have fun."

Brock nodded. "Your real friends are the ones who like you because they want to be with you. It's not about petty things like titles or how popular you are. Just be yourself."

Lilith looked up at Danny. "Miss-miss-miss."

Danny turned a deep red. "Easier said than done!"

Ash rolled his eyes. "Here we go again," he groaned as another argument between Danny and Lilith broke out.

Brock, being the not-so-romantic, suddenly realized the real problem with Danny: he's in love with Sam. It all became clear to the Pokémon Breeder. The way Danny reacted when Sam mentioned that Brock tried to flirt with her should have been a dead giveaway. The way Danny was determined to master the Flaming Heart combination should have also been a clue. And judging by the way Sam reacted to what Brock said after she beat Paulina revealed that she felt the same way about Danny too. For them to battle each other over the title as the tournament champion might put a strain on their relationship, depending on who the winner will be.

~0~0~0~

Sam was feeling just as nervous as Danny was at the moment. Dawn noticed that Sam was gloomier than usual ever since they came back from the festival. Sam was just sitting on her bed, absently stroking Phantom.

"You okay, Sam?" Dawn asked.

"Lup?" asked Piplup.

Sam looked up. "Huh? What?"

"You look upset about something. We didn't have to leave the festival because Mr. Fenton got sick. You and I could have stayed," said Dawn trying to comfort her new friend.

Sam chuckled. "It has nothing to do with Mr. Fenton puking his guts out. Danny says it happens every year. I'm worried about tomorrow."

"Oh," said Dawn. "You don't want to battle Danny tomorrow, do you?"

"No, I don't. I know he promised that he wouldn't let this tournament get between us but I can't help but think he'd go back on his word," said Sam.

"Why would you think that?" asked Dawn.

"Piplup!" Piplup added angrily.

"He's been trying to get into the popular crowd since we started high school," Sam explained. "So far, he's only been going in and out of the popular crowd. And all those times he's been with the in-crowd, he becomes totally oblivious to everyone else around him. I know he only wants to join because it would stop the bullying and he'd get more friends but they're not real friends."

Dawn raised an eyebrow. "You lost me at 'stop the bullying'."

Sam sighed. "Popular kids like Dash and Paulina think no one can touch them. The rules don't apply to them. The only reason they think they're invincible is because of their parents' money. If you're not rich or good-looking, the popular kids won't look twice at you."

"What about you, Sam? You live in a huge manor complete with a bowling lane in your basement!"

"That's because I haven't _told_ anyone about my wealth," Sam said through gritted teeth. "If I told, then I'd only get superficial friends – fake friends who only like me for my money. Danny, Jazz and Tucker are the only ones who know my secret. And I expect you keep your mouth buttoned about this too!"

"Uh…my lips are sealed," Dawn answered nervously. "I won't even tell Ash and Brock if it makes you feel better."

"Nah. They're also my friends. They have a right to know…provided that they keep quiet about it too."

Dawn nodded. "Right." She then returned to the problem at hand. "So, you really like Danny, huh?"

Sam turned a little pink. "Who told you that? What gave you that idea?" she asked rather hurriedly.

Dawn giggled. "You just did."

Sam, realizing the Coordinator tricked her, face-palmed. "Yeah. I like him…a lot."

Dawn giggled again. "No need to worry. I won't tell him." Sam released a sigh of relief. Little did the Goth know that Dawn and Piplup already knew about Danny and Sam's crushes on each other. "Why don't you tell him how you feel after the festival? You know, get it off your chest?"

"Do you think Danny feels the same way about me?" Sam asked.

Dawn smiled. "You'll never know until you tell him."

* * *

**This chapter isn't my best work but I figured y'all would know what Danny and Sam are thinking about the tournament. As you've figured out, both are afraid popularity would get in the way. Well, as we all know: true love conquers all!**

**ClockworksApperentice and Megamastermaind: Danny will be wearing his Phantom costume next. As for Sam...well you're just going to have to wait and see.  
**


	14. Battle of the Lovebirds! pt1

**This battle is going to be epic! So epic, that I have to break it down into two parts! Have a laugh before the battle begins!  
**

**I did some research on Bulbapedia and discovered that Ghost and Dark attacks don't have much affect on each other, which means this could be a long battle! Don't get your hopes up, though...I SUCK AT WRITING FIGHTS! T_T  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 14**

**Battle of the Lovebirds! Danny Vs. Sam pt.1**

The next morning was rather quiet in the Fenton household. However, Danny broke the peaceful silence when he barged out of the bathroom in his towel, soaking wet.

"SSSPOOOOOKYYYYY!" he yelled. He was loud enough to be heard from the Ops Center. Ash, Brock and Pikachu ran downstairs to see what the commotion was. Jazz, Maddie, Jack, Munchlax and Rotom went to see what the commotion was.

"Chu-pi?"

"Danny? What's going on?" asked Ash.

"More importantly, what happened to you?" asked Brock.

It seemed that Danny's Gengar was up to his old tricks again. Danny's normal raven-black hair was now snow-white. He was holding a bottle of shampoo in one hand and an empty bottle of hair dye in the other. Spooky thought it would be funny if he put hair dye in Danny's shampoo and turn his hair white.

"I'm going to kill you, Spooky!" Danny exclaimed his eyes flashing green in anger. No response was heard. "I know you're there! Come out!"

Spooky appeared out of thin air, floating and laughing hysterically. "Gengar-gengar-gengar!"

"It's not funny!" Danny shouted his eyes flashing again. "Now I have the same hair color as Grandpa Fenton!"

"Pikachu-pika!" Pikachu yelled at Spooky. The Ghost Pokémon wasn't paying attention.

Danny sighed exasperatedly. "Pikachu, do you think you can _shock_ some sense into him?" he asked.

"Pi!" Pikachu nodded. "PIIIIIKAAAA-CHUUUUU!" Pikachu shocked Spooky out of the air. He landed on the floor in a daze.

"What are we going to do?" asked Ash. "Danny can't go to the tournament looking like that."

"I can't exactly dress like a bum if I have white hair," Danny muttered as his eyes changed back to blue.

"You can dress like an old man," Brock suggested.

Danny shot that idea down. "Not helping."

"Miss?" Lilith appeared out of nowhere. When she saw Danny's hair, she immediately started laughing uncontrollably.

"Not you too!" Danny moaned.

Jazz, however, was trying to think of a solution to Danny's problem. He had to be at the school in two hours. He needed a new costume before then. She looked at Danny's damp white hair, then at Lilith and Spooky and then at her parents' jumpsuits. She started thinking of an idea…yes! It would definitely work.

Maddie inspected the bottle of hair dye. "Don't worry, sweetie. This brand won't last forever. Your hair should be back to normal in a week. This is a really cheap brand."

"And what exactly am I going to wear to the tournament today?" Danny asked irritably.

"I have an idea," Jazz piped up. "Danny, put some pants on and meet me in the basement."

Danny got dressed and met Jazz in the basement. Spooky was frozen solid by Spectra as punishment. He'd be thawed out before the tournament.

"Okay, Jazz," said Danny. "What's this plan of yours that will fix _this_?" he pointed his now snow-white hair for emphasis.

"Not fix, hide," Jazz replied as she dug through the closet.

Danny scoffed. "How am I going to hide a full head of old people hair?"

Jazz gave her little brother a smug grin. "What better way to hide than in plain sight?" she asked as she pulled out a black and white jumpsuit.

"No way," Danny argued. "I'm not going to wear the jumpsuit Mom and Dad made for me, especially since Dad's face is on it."

Jazz ripped off her father's face off the jumpsuit and put a DP insignia in its place.

Danny blinked at the insignia. "That's the same insignia I used to make Sam's choker. Where did you get it?"

"Bertrand showed me the design and I thought it looked cool," Jazz explained. "So I kept it just in case."

"And what am I supposed to be?" Danny asked skeptically.

"A ghost," Jazz simply answered.

Danny gave his sister a deadpanned look. "People traditionally dress as ghosts using a bed sheet," he explained blankly. "I won't look anything like a ghost."

Jazz rolled her eyes. This argument was getting boring real fast. She threw the jumpsuit at Danny who quickly caught it. "Just put the thing on so I can see." Danny quickly slipped into the jumpsuit to model for Jazz. She tapped her finger on her cheek deep in thought. She then snapped her fingers. "Flash your eyes for a moment." Danny did so briefly. Jazz then let out a gleeful cry. "Perfect! The way your eyes flash in that jumpsuit makes you look like a real ghost."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Since when are you the fashion expert?"

"I have some fashion sense," Jazz defended.

"The same fashion sense as Oprah," Danny muttered. Jazz hit him upside the head at that remark. "Dawn gave me some tips a few days ago. She knows how to mix and match colors."

Danny looked over himself in the mirror. He flashed his eyes green for a moment and smiled. He didn't look half bad. He sighed and turned to Jazz, "This will work. Thanks Jazz."

Jazz hugged Danny before leaving the basement. "Anything for my little brother. Now come on. You need to model for Mom and Dad."

Danny grimaced. "No way! I'm not a girl!"

~0~0~0~

The gang (except a sick Jack) went to Casper High School to watch the final battle between Sam and Danny. They sat in the bleachers as they watched the field. Neither group knew who to cheer for.

"Man! This is something I never thought would happen," Tucker remarked.

"I know," said Jazz. "I hope they can keep it together."

"This better be a battle to remember," said Tucker. "Otherwise Sam is going to give Paul a black-eye as a souvenir."

"This will be a battle no one will forget," said Brock.

"What do you mean, Brock?" asked Ash.

"Dark-types are resistant to Ghost-types and vice versa, which means that both their attacks won't do much to each other," Brock explained.

Tucker whistled. "This is going to be a loooonng battle."

~0~0~0~

Danny was about to enter the field when Sam stopped him. She wore a green strapless dress with matching green elbow-length gloves. A spiky leg garter was visible on her left leg with a matching ponytail holder and her DP choker was visible around her neck. The eyeliner around her eyes made her lower eyelashes look longer.

"Danny?"

"Sam?"

"What are you wearing?" they asked in unison. They then laughed at their silly costumes.

"You literally look like a ghost!" Sam exclaimed.

"You're one to talk," Danny retorted. "You look like the daughter of a plant monster."

The two laughed again.

"Why did you dye your hair white?" asked Sam.

Danny mockingly frowned. "Ask Spooky and you'll get your answer." Sam burst out laughing at the answer. "So, you ready for this?"

Sam calmed down and faced Danny. "I'm still nervous about battling you."

"I know. Me too," said Danny. "Who would've guessed that it would all come down to us?"

"Life is strange like that, huh?"

"Yeah. Uh…tonight, at the festival…there's something I want to show you," Danny stuttered, blushing.

Sam smiled. "Okay but wear your costume. I kind of like it."

"Don't get used to it. The dye should come out in a week."

~0~0~0~

"Welcome to the Final Battle of the Founder's Day Tournament," Lancer announced. "Our finalists are Daniel Fenton and Samantha Manson. This will be a six-on-six battle with NO substitutions. First Trainer to lose all their Pokémon in battle will be eliminated and the victor is crowned champion."

The wheel on the Jumbo Screen stopped on Danny's face; he would go first.

Danny's eyes changed from blue to green as he called out his first Pokémon. "Going ghost! Skulker!" The Beckon Pokémon appeared in a flash of light from his Pokéball.

"This is the point of no return! I choose Shadow!" Sam threw her Pokéball, which released her Absol in a flash of light.

~0~0~0~

Team Rocket, once again in their disguises, watched from the stands.

"So, whose Pokémon should we snatch?" asked James. "The Ghost Twerp's or the Goth Twerpette's?"

"I say we take the Ghost Twerp's," said Meowth. "We'll play dirty if we want all of his Ghost Pokémon."

"I think I'll take that little Misdreavous for myself," said Jessie. "She could do wonders for Contests."

"I like the way you think, Jess," Meowth complimented.

~0~0~0~

Coach Teslaff blew her whistle. "And begin!"

"All right, Skulker, let's start this with Night Shade," said Danny. A beam of dark energy shot out of Skulker's eye and hit Shadow. It didn't do much damage to the Dark Pokémon. "Darn it. I gotta do this from another angle."

"Shadow, use Shadow Claw!" ordered Sam. Shadow leapt into the air. His front paw was covered with dark energy. He slashed at Skulker.

"Skulker!" Danny shouted in concern. Skulker steadied himself and was ready for battle. "Use Dark Pulse!" Skulker released a sphere of purple energy and black rings at Shadow.

"Hang in there, Shadow! Use Night Slash!" Shadow's horn glowed purple. He swung his head and released a blade of purple energy at Skulker.

"Dodge and use Shadow Punch!" Danny ordered. Skulker's fist became enveloped in dark energy and punched Shadow.

Sam wasn't done. "Okay! Use Shadow Claw again!" Once again, Shadow's paw became covered in dark energy.

Danny was ready though. "Skulker! Dodge!" Skulker moved his head out of the way in the nick of time. Shadow kept swiping at him, trying to hit him. Danny suddenly saw an opening. "Now do ThunderPunch!" he quickly yelled. Skulker's fist charged up with electricity and pounded Shadow's head with it, shocking him.

"No! Shadow!" Sam yelled. Shadow slowly got up. Seeing that he's still able to fight, Sam told him, "Good, now use Night Slash!" Shadow's horn lit up again and released another blade of purple energy at Skulker.

"Hang in there!" Danny called to his Pokémon. "Use Dark Pulse!" Skulker released a sphere of black rings at Shadow.

"Shadow! Use Night Slash again!" Sam ordered. Shadow released another blade of purple energy that literally sliced through Dark Pulse and right into Skulker, knocking him out cold.

"Skulker, no!" Danny yelled as his eyes returned to normal.

Coach Teslaff blew her whistle. "Dusclops is unable to battle! Absol wins!"

~0~0~0~

The crowd cheered. Danny thanked his Pokémon and called him back. Team Rocket was shocked at Skulker's defeat.

"The Ghost Twerp should have seen that one coming," said Jessie.

"At this rate, the Goth Twerpette will wipe him out before lunchtime," added James.

"Wobbuffet!"

~0~0~0~

Danny's eyes changed back to green again as he pulled out a Friend Ball. "You're up next, Youngblood!" The young Shuppet appeared in a flash of light. Coach Teslaff blew her whistle and the battle continued. "Youngblood, use Will O' Wisp!" Blue tongues of fire shot out towards Shadow, burning him.

"Don't give up, Shadow!" Sam encouraged. "Use Shadow Claw!"

"Youngblood, dodge it!" Shadow tried over and over again to swipe at Youngblood but the Ghost Pokémon kept away from him as much as possible. "Now, do Night Shade!" Dark energy shot out of Youngblood's eyes and hit Shadow. Fire briefly flashed over his body, doing some damage. "Now, Shadow Ball!" A shadowy sphere shot out from the tip of Youngblood's horn and hit Shadow.

"Come on, Shadow! Use Night Slash!" Sam ordered. Shadow shot out another blade of purple energy, hitting Youngblood. Another flash of fire did more damage to the Disaster Pokémon's body.

"Youngblood! Finish it off with Shock Wave!" Youngblood released a wave of electricity from his little body, hitting Shadow and knocking him out. "Wow, Shadow was more tired than I thought," Danny muttered.

Coach Teslaff blew her whistle again. "Absol is unable to battle! Shuppet wins!"

Sam called her Pokémon back into his Pokéball and pulled out another. "I won't get fooled again! I choose Ember!" The Houndoom appeared in a flash of light. Teslaff blew the whistle again, signaling the battle to continue. "Ember, use Flamethrower!" Fire spewed out of Ember's mouth towards Youngblood.

"Youngblood, counter it with Night Shade!" said Danny. Dark energy shot out of Youngblood's eyes. The two attacks collided with each other, both struggling to overpower the other. Eventually, Ember's Flamethrower overpowered Youngblood's Night Shade and fried him. He struggled to get up but Sam wasn't cutting him any slack.

"Ember, finish him off with Crunch attack!" said Sam. Ember bit down hard on Youngblood, shaking him in her mouth. "Okay, Ember spit him out," Sam said before her Houndoom could turn Youngblood into her newest chew toy. Ember spat the Puppet Pokémon out of her mouth. Youngblood was unconscious, no longer able to battle.

Teslaff blew her whistle. "Shuppet is unable to battle! Houndoom wins!"

~0~0~0~

Dawn was shocked at how quickly the battle between Shuppet and Houndoom was. "I don't get it. The battle just started again and Youngblood was knocked out just like that."

"Houndoom a pretty powerful Pokémon," Brock started. "Compared to a tiny little Shuppet, Houndoom has the upper-hand. Not to mention, Youngblood took a lot of damage when he was fighting Shadow even though he was on his last legs."

"If that's the case then Danny better come up with a comeback strategy if he wants to win," said Ash.

"Danny will be fine," Tucker said confidently. "If I know my best friend, he has a trump card up his sleeve," he said with a wink.

* * *

**WAAA! Ember's mean! She treated Youngblood like a ragdoll...which is kind of ironic because that's what Shuppet basically evolves into...**

**Glad you're enjoying this! I know I'm not the best at writing Pokemon battles! Give me a break! I'm going to try and make the second half as long as possible! Don't be disappointed if it doesn't reach your expectations. You have been warned... :)  
**


	15. Battle of the Lovebirds! pt2

**ACK! The second part of the final battle! I'm freaking out! I tried making this battle as long as I can! You know how I am with lengthy battles! Not my thing!  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 15**

**Battle of the Lovebirds! Danny Vs. Sam pt.2**

Danny called Youngblood back into his Friend Ball and pulled out a Pokéball. Flashing his eyes green again, Danny threw it, "Bertrand! You're up next!" The Sableye appeared in a flash of light and onto the battlefield.

Coach Teslaff blew her whistle. "And begin!"

"Bertrand, let's warm up with Fury Swipes!" Danny called. Bertrand rapidly scratched Ember's face repeatedly.

"Ember! Use Fire Fang!" Sam ordered. Flames in her mouth, Ember sunk her teeth into Bertrand's arm, burning him. Sam pumped her fist. "Yes! Burned him!"

"Don't be so sure," Danny said cockily.

"Huh?"

Bertrand pulled out a Rawst Berry from hiding.

"What? How did he –?"

"Pokémon are allowed to hold items in battle," Danny said. "What Bertrand has is perfectly legal."

"He's right," said Coach Teslaff. With that, Bertrand popped the Rawst Berry into his mouth. His burn was healed in seconds.

"Now that that's out of the way, use Shadow Sneak, Bertrand!" Danny exclaimed. Bertrand's shadow stretched across the battlefield. It rose from the ground and Ember was punched by a Sableye-shaped shadow.

"Clever," Sam complimented. "Now, Ember, use Iron Tail!" Ember's tail lit up and swung it in Bertrand's face.

"Bertrand, use Shadow Claw!" Like Shadow, Bertrand's claws became enveloped in dark energy and swiped Ember across the face.

"Use Flamethrower!" Sam ordered. Fire spewed from Ember's mouth toward Bertrand.

"Fight it off with Fury Swipes!" said Danny. Bertrand charged at the oncoming fire. He then started swiping the fire away with his Fury Swipes until his claws met with Ember's face again.

"What?" asked a bewildered Sam.

"Now, do Focus Punch!" Bertrand's fist lit up and punched Ember's face, knocking her out.

"No! Ember!" Sam exclaimed.

Coach Teslaff blew her whistle. "Houndoom is unable to battle! Sableye wins!"

Danny cheered for his little victory. He then looked at Sam longingly.

"Sable?" Danny snapped out of his trance when Bertrand started snapping his fingers in his master's face.

"Oh, right," Danny said nervously. "Gotta stay focused."

Sam called Ember back and pulled out another Pokéball. "Let's go, Undergrowth!" The Tangrowth appeared in a flash of light. He was about to charge at Danny to give him a hug when Sam stopped him. "You can hug Danny later. Right now, we're battling." Undergrowth groaned in disappointment.

Teslaff blew her whistle again. "Begin!"

"Undergrowth, Sleep Powder," said Sam. Blue powder came out of Undergrowth's body, making Bertrand fall asleep.

"Bertrand, wake up!" Danny pleaded. A bubble was visible from Bertrand's nose (even though he didn't have a nose). He refused to wake up.

"Undergrowth, use Energy Ball!" A sphere of green energy was launched at Bertrand, who didn't even stir when he was hit.

Danny's eye flashed even brighter. "Darn it, Bertrand, WAKE UP!" he shouted. The bubble popped on Bertrand's face, waking him up. "Finally! Now use Shadow Sneak!" Bertrand's shadow attacked Undergrowth.

"Undergrowth, use Vine Whip!" Vines hit the shadow, dissipating it, and then hit Bertrand. "Now use Mega Drain!" The vines then wrapped around Bertrand's waist and started glowing green.

Danny growled. "Bertrand, use Shadow Claw on the vines." Bertrand's claws lit up with dark energy and swiped at the vines binding him. The pain made the Tangrowth let go. "Now do Fury Swipes!" Bertrand then started slashing repeatedly at Undergrowth.

"Undergrowth, quick, use Energy Ball!" Sam ordered. Undergrowth launched another sphere of green energy directly at Bertrand, blowing him away from Undergrowth.

"Bertrand, use Shadow Sneak!" Bertrand's shadow once again attacked Undergrowth.

"Keep going, Undergrowth! Vine Whip!" said Sam. Vines struck Bertrand again and again, eventually knocking him out.

Danny's eyes snapped back to blue. "Bertrand!"

Teslaff blew her whistle. "Sableye is unable to battle! Tangrowth wins!"

~0~0~0~

The crowd cheered. Team Rocket was quite impressed with Danny and Sam's Pokémon.

"That settles it!" Jessie exclaimed. "When the Ghost Twerp admits his feelings tonight, we'll just steal every Pokémon they have!"

"The more Pokémon, the better our pay will be!" Meowth exclaimed.

"When it comes to ruining romantic moments, we're professionals," said James.

"Wobbuffet!"

~0~0~0~

"Looks like a pretty close match so far," said Brock.

"Let's see. Danny lost Bertrand, Youngblood and Skulker," Dawn counted with her fingers. "And Sam lost Shadow and Ember."

"This is exactly how Danny battles with us," said Tucker. "He knows us well enough to know what Pokémon we have and what he can use to fight against them. And unless I'm mistaken…"

~0~0~0~

Danny called Bertrand back into his Pokéball and pulled out another. "Let's go, Spectra!" The Froslass appeared on the battlefield in Bertrand's place. Teslaff blew the whistle and the battle continued. "Spectra, use Confuse Ray!" Danny ordered. Spectra's eyes glowed blue and Undergrowth became confused in a heartbeat. Undergrowth soon began whipping himself with his own vines.

"Come on, Undergrowth! Snap out of it!" Sam cried.

"Spectra, use Blizzard!" A blizzard blew out of Spectra's mouth, doing heavy damage to the Grass-type Pokémon. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to snap him out of his confusion. Next thing Sam knew, Undergrowth used Sleep Powder on himself. He went out like a light. "Let's finish this with Ice Beam!" Danny exclaimed. A beam of blue light shot out of Spectra's mouth. The beam of light hit Undergrowth and froze him solid.

"Oh come on, Undergrowth!" Sam cried. The sound of cracking ice was heard before Coach Teslaff could blow her whistle. Undergrowth, now wide awake, broke free from his frozen prison. "Now, do Mega Drain!" Undergrowth's vines shot out of his body.

"Spectra, dodge and use Blizzard!" Spectra got out of the way in time and blew another snowstorm at Undergrowth knocking him out.

Teslaff blew her whistle. "Tangrowth is unable to battle! Froslass wins!"

Sam called her Tangrowth back and thanked him. She then pulled out a Fast Ball that's seen better days. Danny recognized it immediately.

"Wulf, it's your turn!" The Mightyena appeared in a flash of light. He was about to run over to Danny to give him slobbery kisses when Sam stopped him. "Wulf, now's not the time to play with Danny," she said sternly. Teslaff blew her whistle and the battle continued. "Wulf, let's start with Odor Sleuth!" An orb of white light appeared from Wulf's mouth and blasted at Spectra. It didn't do any damage but Danny knew what Odor Sleuth did. It worked just like Foresight.

"Spectra, calm down," said Danny. "Use Double Team!" Several copies of Spectra surrounded Wulf. He looked around, trying to figure out which one was the real deal. "Now, Confuse Ray." Every Spectra copy's eyes glowed blue. Wulf tried to look away but it was useless. He became confused.

"No, Wulf, not you too!" Sam exclaimed.

"Now Spectra! Use Blizzard!" Another snowstorm blew out of the real Spectra's mouth, hitting Wulf, snapping him out of confusion.

"Yes!" Sam cried. "Okay, Wulf, Bite!" Wulf sunk his fangs into Spectra's arm, making her cry out in pain.

"Spectra, use Ice Beam!" Another beam of blue light shot out of Spectra's mouth at close range, blowing the Bite Pokémon away from her.

"Now, here's the reason why I love breeding," said Sam. "Wulf, use Fire Fang!" Flames appeared in Wulf's mouth. He charged at Spectra before she has a chance to dodge. Wulf sunk his flaming fangs onto Spectra, doing massive damage to her.

"Spectra!" Danny cried. "All right then! Use Ice Beam!" Spectra shot yet another beam of blue light hitting Wulf.

"Come on, Wulf! Get up!" Sam cried. Wulf managed to bet back up. "Great! Now do Hyper Beam!" A beam of energy shot out of Wulf's mouth and made a direct hit at Spectra, knocking her out.

"Spectra, no!" Danny yelled.

Teslaff blew her whistle. "Froslass is unable to battle! Mightyena wins!"

Danny sighed in frustration. He thanked Spectra and called her back. He now had only two Pokémon left. Wulf is pretty old but he could still pack a powerful punch…or bite in his case. Of course, after all those blasts of Blizzard and Ice Beam, he should be getting pretty tired.

Danny threw his next Pokéball. "Let's go, Vortex!" The balloon-like Pokémon appeared on the battlefield. Teslaff blew her whistle and the battle continued. "Vortex, use Ominous Wind!" Vortex blew purple wind at Wulf. Unfortunately for Wulf, he couldn't attack since he has to wait awhile since he used Hyper Beam. "Vortex, use Shadow Ball!" A shadowy sphere appeared in front of Vortex and fired it at Wulf.

"Wulf, use Odor Sleuth!" Sam commanded. Another sphere of white light shot out of Wulf's mouth and hit Vortex. Again, it did not hurt him; he was just now vulnerable to physical attacks.

"Vortex, use Shadow Ball again!" said Danny. Vortex shot another shadowy sphere at the Dark Pokémon. It looked like it was over for Wulf but he still struggled to get back up.

_CRACK!_

Wulf howled in pain and fainted.

Teslaff blew her whistle. "Mighyena is…somehow…unable to battle," she announced hesitantly, unsure of what just happened. "Drifblim is the winner!"

Sam ran to Wulf to check on him (after getting permission from the referee). She looked him over and came to a conclusion: Wulf threw out his back! She recognized the sound from past experiences with her grandmother a few times and it always meant that her back was acting up. After a pair of Chansey carried Wulf away on a stretcher, the battle continued.

"You're my last hope, Phantom!" Sam cried as she threw a Luxury Ball. The Umbreon appeared in a flash of light. Coach Teslaff blew her whistle and the battle continued. "Phantom, use Quick Attack!" The Umbreon zoomed over to Vortex and collided into his round body.

"Vortex, Fly!" Danny ordered. Vortex launched himself into the air.

"Phantom, Dig!" Phantom dove into the ground and out of sight. Vortex began descending from the sky at full-speed but Sam was ready. "Get out of there now and use Dark Pulse!" A split-second before Vortex slammed into the ground, Phantom popped out of his hole and launched a sphere of dark rings at the Balloon Pokémon. "Now, use Confuse Ray!" Phantom's eyes lit up and Vortex became confused. He then started slapping himself with his four hands.

Danny's eyes flashed green. "Quit playing 'Why Am I Hitting Myself?' and snap out of it!" he yelled. Vortex's beady eyes blinked and came to his senses. "Now, use Shadow Ball!" Vortex shot another shadowy sphere at his opponent.

"Phantom, counter it with Dark Pulse!" Sam ordered. Phantom did so and the two attacks collided with each other causing an explosion. When the dust cleared, Vortex was unconscious.

"WHAT?" Danny exclaimed. It dawned on him then that the damage done to Vortex was partially because of him hurting himself in confusion.

Teslaff blew her whistle. "Drifblim is unable to battle! Umbreon wins!"

~0~0~0~

Dawn was so nervous she was squeezing Piplup until he couldn't breathe. "It all comes down to Spooky and Phantom," she said grimly.

"Spooky is Danny's strongest Pokémon and Phantom is Sam's," said Jazz. "It's going to be difficult for Sam since the only attacks that will work are Confuse Ray and Dark Pulse."

"But that doesn't mean she can't use Phantom's other attacks to help her in battle," Brock argued.

~0~0~0~

Danny pulled out Spooky's Pokéball with a flaming green F on it (Jack made it himself in Azalea Town; called it the "Fenton Ball") and threw it. "Going ghost, Spooky!" The mischievous Gengar appeared on the battlefield in a flash of light. _SLURP!_ "For once can you not lick my face like a lollipop?" Danny angrily asked Spooky. Teslaff blew her whistle and the battle continued. "No holding back, Spooky! Use Night Shade!" Dark energy shot out of his eyes and hit Phantom.

"Phantom, use Confuse Ray!" Sam ordered. Phantom's eyes lit up and Spooky soon became confused and doing the hula.

Danny growled. "Darn it, Spooky! Snap out of it!" he yelled, his eyes flashing green. Spooky blinked and came back to his senses. "Now use Dark Pulse!" Spooky shot a sphere of black rings out of his mouth at Phantom.

"Two can play at that game," said Sam. "Phantom, use Dark Pulse!" Phantom also shot a sphere of black rings at Spooky. "Yes! Bull's-eye!"

"Spooky, use Night Shade," said Danny.

"Phantom, use Quick Attack to dodge it!" Sam quickly said. Phantom zoomed out of the way before he was hit.

"Spooky, use Lick attack to catch Phantom!" Danny countered. Spooky timed his tongue to catch Phantom by the leg. "Now use Giga Drain!" Spooky's tongue and Phantom's body then glowed green, draining the Dark Pokémon's strength.

"Phantom, use Dark Pulse to free yourself!" Sam yelled. Phantom launched another Dark Pulse attack right in Spooky's face, doing heavy damage and making him let go.

Both Pokémon were getting pretty tired at this point but neither Trainer was giving up. As much as it pained Danny to fight Sam, he wasn't going to back down after getting this far.

"Spooky, use Giga Drain again!" Spooky grabbed Phantom with his tongue again and continued draining his strength.

Sam refused to lose. She suddenly got an idea. "Phantom, use Dig!" Phantom gathered the strength he had left and dove into the ground…with poor Spooky being dragged along underground. The battlefield was now empty; only a hole that Phantom dug was visible.

"Spooky!" Danny called. "If you can hear me, keep using Giga Drain!" A green light was seen from the hole, indicating that Spooky heard Danny and continued with his attack (true, Spooky would have heard Danny anyway due to the mind link but Danny felt that calling out the commands made it more legitimate). Phantom, still tied to Spooky's tongue, then popped out of the ground with Spooky close behind. The Ghost Pokémon then let go. Now both Pokémon were barely able to stand. "Spooky, finish this off with Dark Pulse!"

"Phantom, you too!" Sam called.

Both Pokémon launched their attacks, which collided with each other at the center of the battlefield. They put as much power into their attacks as they could. Eventually, the attacks caused an explosion. When the dust cleared, both Pokémon were still standing on their feet. Before Danny and Sam could call their next attack, both Spooky and Phantom collapsed.

Coach Teslaff blew her whistle. "Gengar and Umbreon are unable to battle! I declare this battle a draw!"

"_Romeo and Juliet_!" Lancer exclaimed into the microphone. "For the first time in Amity Park history, we have a draw!" He flipped through the pages of the rulebook. "And according to the tournament rulebook: should the final battle of the tournament end in a draw, the final two Trainers are declared equals and both are declared the winners!"

The crowd roared. Danny's eyes returned to normal and dropped his jaw. Sam stood there in shock. None of their battles have ever ended in ties in the past. Mr. Lancer brought the trophy to the two. Instead of deciding who gets it, Sam called out Shadow who used Razor Blade to cut the trophy in half.

~0~0~0~

Team Rocket was in tears at the outcome of the battle.

"This is true love at its finest," Jessie sobbed.

"Who would have thought that the power of love would declare the Ghost Twerp and the Goth Twerpette equals in a single Pokémon battle?" James sniffled. "It's a match made in the Pokémon battlefield!"

"She is his Nidoqueen as he is her Nidoking," Meowth wept.

"Wwwwwoooobbuffeeeet!" Wobbuffet cried.

* * *

**Shocked? Yeah, bet you didn't see that coming! I thought it over and I thought this was the right thing to do. If one of them won, they would get swarmed by countless suitors and that would be annoying!**

**There's more to come! Lots of fluff coming your way!  
**

**As for the mystery prize... NOT TELLING! XD  
**

**Stay tuned and keep reviewing!  
**


	16. Ruining a Perfect Moment

**Showtime! Sam finally sees the Flaming Heart! Will she be impressed? Let's hope so!  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 16**

**Ruining a Perfect Moment**

Danny and Sam walked out of the locker rooms and were tackled by family and friends alike.

"Danny, your father called and says that he is so proud of you!" Maddie cried.

"I was on the edge of my seat the entire time!" Tucker exclaimed.

"That was the most intense battle I've ever seen!" Jazz shouted.

"You've shocked even me!" said Brock.

"Pikachu!"

"That was one intense battle," said Ash.

"Sammy, how could this battle end in a tie?" asked Pamela. "And what about your grandmother's Mightyena? Is he alright?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mom. Wulf will be fine. He just threw his back out again."

"I still can't believe that he's still able to battle after all these years!" Jeremy exclaimed. "We've had him since your mother and I got married and I still can't believe he can still fight!"

"He's older than he looks," Grandma muttered.

Tucker then noticed a certain Trainer coming their way. "Jerk alert," he warned. Dawn put her hand on Sam's shoulder as a precaution.

Danny sighed nervously as Paul approached the gang. "So…heh, heh… a tie! Didn't see that coming, huh?" he asked anxiously.

Paul ignored Danny for a moment and looked at Sam. "This backwater town may have declared you and Daniel equals but I don't. You think you've put everything you've got into that battle?"

Sam sneered at Paul. "You know I did! I put seven years of Pokémon training into today's battle!"

"Please," Paul scoffed. "You lost to someone who has been training Pokémon for _ten_ years. I figured you'd put up more of a fight."

"For the record, I didn't officially become a Trainer until I turned ten," Danny muttered. "I waited to get my license just like everyone else."

Brock, Tucker, Pikachu and Ash all had to help Dawn restrain Sam from clawing Paul's eyes out.

"Let me go! Just give me five minutes with him! I'll make him take back every insult he threw at us!" Sam yelled as she struggled against her restrainers.

"Pikapika!" Pikachu strained as he tugged on Sam's sock.

"He's not worth it! He's not worth it!" Brock grunted.

Paul then turned his attention to Danny. "The way you used that ability of yours is enough to convince me to challenge you to a battle."

Danny flinched at the challenge. "Uh…I think I'm going to have to take a rain check on that," Danny replied nervously. He was afraid Paul was going to explode or force Danny to battle him. "You see I have to do something very important tonight. Not to mention, my Pokémon are exhausted and need medical attention."

Paul grunted. "Fine. I can wait. I'll get my final Gym Badge in the meantime."

Danny cracked a nervous smile. "Okay, then. Uh…good luck with that."

Paul then walked away without saying goodbye. Dawn, Tucker, Brock, Ash and Pikachu let go of Sam as soon as Paul was out of sight.

"If I ever see that jerkface again, I'll punch him before he can blink!" Sam vowed.

"Not if we could help it," Tucker and Danny muttered under their breath.

~0~0~0~

After a long checkup at the Pokémon Center, Sam and Danny went home to prepare for the final night of the festival. Tonight was the night Danny was going to confess his feelings to Sam. He's never felt so nervous in his life!

"Danny?"

The raven-haired teen turned around and saw Brock standing in his bedroom doorway.

"Brock? What are you doing here?" asked Danny.

"You're going to tell Sam how you feel about her?" Brock assumed.

Danny panicked. "What? What makes you say that?" he asked.

"The signs were all there; I just overlooked them," Brock replied. "That and Dawn told me that you like her."

"Dawn, you traitor," Danny mumbled under his breath.

Brock chuckled. "You know, it's okay to be nervous. Just take a deep breath and tell her how you feel."

Danny gave him a deadpanned look. "You're one to talk. You just walk up to any random girl and say whatever comes to mind."

Brock sweat-dropped at Danny's reply. Right on the mark. "Well, if you don't tell Sam how you feel, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. Seize the opportunity!"

Danny gave the former Gym Leader a skeptical look. "You're going to spy on me tonight, aren't you?"

More sweat-drops. It's only been a week and Danny already knows Brock like the back of his hand.

~0~0~0~

The gang met with Dawn and the Mansons at the entrance to the park. Throughout the entire evening Danny and Sam were given the royal treatment by the entire town. They didn't have a chance to talk to each other much since they were shaking hands and getting asked out by every member of the Casper High student body, including the A-listers.

Danny managed to break away from all the praise to meet up with Sam on the hill where they held their previous meeting.

"Sam?"

Danny approached Sam. She was wearing a black and purple dress with a matching black and purple purse. The way her hair was styled and how she did her makeup made her look like she was sparkling.

Danny smiled at her appearance. "You look beautiful," he said. He paused when he realized what he said. "Uh…I mean…uh…you look…nice?"

Sam giggled at the way Danny fell over himself. It was cute. "Thanks. Glad you're still wearing your costume."

"Whew! It gets really hot when I'm wearing it underneath my kimono," said Danny. "I was afraid I was going to get heatstroke! If it weren't for my lowered body temperature, that would have happened."

Sam laughed. "Glad you're alright. So what is it that you wanted to show me?"

"Uh, before I get started…BROCK! TUCKER! YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS TO TURN TAIL AND RUN!" Danny yelled. Tucker, Brock and the rest of the gang popped their heads out of the leaves of the tree.

"Awww…" Tucker groaned. "Can't you just pretend we're not here?"

"Two words, Tuck: GO. AWAY!" Sam shouted.

"Fine," pouted Jazz. "We'll go." Croagunk appeared and stunned both Brock and Tucker. Dawn, Ash and Jazz dragged their paralyzed friends away.

As soon as they were gone, Danny decided it was now or never. "S-S-Sam?"

"Yeah Danny?" asked Sam.

Danny was turning bright red and it wasn't because he was overheating. "Th-There's something…I want to…show you." He pulled out a Fenton Ball and tossed it into the air. "Showtime, Lilith!" The Misdreavous appeared in a flash of light.

Sam liked her immediately. "Danny, she's so cute! And you know I never say stuff like that!"

Lilith nuzzled her head against Sam's cheek. Danny smiled. "Look, she likes you."

"I've always liked Misdreavous but I could never find one," Sam muttered. "You're lucky you have ghostly friends who tell you where to find them."

"Her name is Lilith," said Danny.

Sam smiled. "Love the name."

"I thought you might like it."

"Is she yours?"

Danny started sweating. "Uh, n-no. I thought she'd like it better with…you," he stuttered.

Sam looked up confused. "You've lost me, Danny."

Danny's eyes glowed green. "Ready to show her, Lilith?"

"Miss!" Lilith nodded.

"Awesome! Use Will O' Wisp!" Tongues of blue fire appeared around Lilith who shot them into the sky. "Now, use Psychic!" Lilith's eyes and the fire lit up. Slowly, the tongues of fire shifted to form the outline of a heart.

Sam gasped at the performance. "Danny, that's so beautiful!" she whispered.

"Thanks. It took me weeks to get it down," Danny explained. "If it weren't for Dawn and her friends I wouldn't have mastered it." Sam continued watching the Flaming Heart in awe. "Um…Sam?"

"Yeah?" Sam asked as she tore her gaze away from the Flaming Heart to look at Danny.

"I…I…I really like you!" Danny blurted out.

That caught Sam off-guard! "What?"

"W-W-What I mean to say is –"

A gust of wind interrupted the boy's confession. Danny felt the Pokéballs on his belt get sucked into yet another robot. Lilith was almost sucked in if Sam hadn't grabbed her. A claw came out of the robot and grabbed Sam's purse, which had her Pokémon inside.

"What the heck?" Danny shouted irritably.

Jessie, James and Meowth appeared at the top of the giant mecha.

"Listen, is that a confession of love that I hear?"

"I can hear it loud and clear!"

"On the wind…"

"Past the stars…"

"We know who you are! Do you have to introduce yourselves like that all the time?" Sam asked irritably.

Jessie did not like it when anyone interrupted their motto. "You ungrateful Goth Twerpette! Do you realize who you're dealing with?"

"You mean the trio of crooks Danny and Ash beat up then yes!" Sam replied.

Lilith glared at the evil trio. "Miss! Miss-miss-vous-miss-misdreavous!"

Danny looked at Lilith in disbelief. "What?"

Meowth laughed. "Miss Lilith is mad that we interrupted your little love confession with the Goth Twerpette after we promised her that we wouldn't."

"Love confession?" a bewildered Sam repeated.

"Lilith, why didn't you tell me?" Danny asked.

"Dree! Misdreavous-miss-miss-vous-dree!"

"You should have woken me up anyway! I told you these jokers can't be trusted!" Danny angrily exclaimed.

"Danny, don't blame Lilith," Sam defended. "She didn't want to wake you up the night before the tournament. She wanted you to have plenty of rest so you could battle in the morning. Give her a break."

Jessie giggled evilly. "You should have listened to the Ghost Twerp, Lilith! You should know that Team Rocket never keeps a promise!"

Lilith glowered at the trio. "Misdreavous?"

"You got that right, you little pipsqueak," said Meowth. "We lied to you like a trio of rugs!"

"You cowards!" yelled Sam. "Give back our Pokémon!"

"Which reminds me," Jessie remembered, "we'll be taking that little spookette with us as well." Team Rocket jumped into the robot and the claw came back to life. It grabbed Lilith from Sam's arms. Sam tried to hold on to the little Ghost Pokémon but the claw was too strong.

"Lilith!" Sam called. Danny ran towards the claw and jumped on it. "Danny! No!"

"I'm not letting them take our Pokémon and Lilith," Danny vowed. "I've worked too hard for all this to go down the toilet!" He tried freeing Lilith from the claw but it wouldn't budge. Another claw appeared and tried to brush Danny off the robot. He barely managed to get out of the way. The claw grazed his cheek, cutting it. Blood started to slowly trickle down his face.

Team Rocket laughed at Danny's vain attempt to free the little Ghost Pokémon.

"Looks like lover boy's efforts are worthless," said James.

"Lover boy?" Sam mumbled to herself.

"He can try all he wants but he'll never free those Pokémon," Jessie said.

The robot's claw brushed Danny off it. He landed on the ground with a loud thud.

"Danny!" Sam screamed. She ran over to him to see if he was seriously hurt. "Danny, come on! Wake up!" She tried shaking him awake but he wouldn't move.

Lilith saw the situation as well. "Misdreavous! Misdreavous!" She tried struggling out of the claw's grasp to aide her old and new master. She then turned to Team Rocket. "Miss-miss! Misdreavous-miss!"

"Lilith says that we should let her and the others go or we'll face the consequences," Meowth translated.

"Tough luck," James retorted. "We caught her and the Ghost Twerp's Pokémon fair and square!"

Sam, knowing that she needs help, yelled at Lilith, "Lilith, use Screech and call for help!"

The Ghost Pokémon heard the command and took a deep breath.

~0~0~0~

Ash, Brock, Dawn, Jazz, Tucker, Pikachu and Piplup walked through the festival feeling rather dejected.

"I can't believe Danny and Sam gave us the boot!" Tucker exclaimed.

"They need time to be alone," Jazz reasoned. "That way they can confess their feelings without an audience."

Pikachu suddenly stopped and perked his ears. "Pika?"

Piplup stopped too see what his friend heard. "Lup?"

Everyone else stopped too when they noticed the Pokémon stopped following them.

"Pikachu, what's up?" Ash asked.

Pikachu's ears kept twitching. He suddenly became alarmed. "Chu-pi!" he exclaimed. He then ran back into the trees where the group came from.

Ash and Piplup ran after him. "Pikachu! Come back!"

"Piplup!"

Brock, Dawn, Tucker and Jazz ran after them.

"Ash, wait up!" Brock called.

"Piplup, slow down!" Dawn yelled.

The kids kept following the Pokémon when they heard an unbearable screech. They covered their ears to keep the sound from breaking their eardrums.

Dawn recognized the sound. "That's Lilith! Danny and Sam must be in trouble!" she yelled over the noise. They waited until it was silent again.

Jazz immediately became worried for her little brother. "If Danny's in trouble, we need to help!" She pulled out a Pokéball. "Noctowl! I need you!" The Owl Pokémon came out in a flash of light. "Listen up, Noctowl! Danny and Sam might be in trouble. I want you to go on ahead and find them."

Ash pulled out a Pokéball too. "Staraptor, help Noctowl out!" A starling-like Pokémon appeared in a flash of light. He flew up to Noctowl who saw a giant robot on the other side of the park from where they were.

The two birds got excited and tried telling their trainers what they saw.

"Danny and Sam must be close. Noctowl and Staraptor didn't even have to go searching," Dawn noted.

"Alright! Take us to them!" Jazz ordered the birds. They flew off towards the robot with their trainers following them on foot.

* * *

**AAAUUUUGGGGHHHHHHH! I hate it when the bad guys ruin romantic moments! **

**Danny will come around in the next chapter! I've finally found a perfect opportunity for the gang to see his rapid healing ability! He's also going to try a new trick with his mind link!  
**

**If this story goes well, I might write a sequel!  
**


	17. The Fire in Danny's Heart

**The final chapter! Yay! Danny tries something new with his powers to free his Pokemon. Will it work? Will Sam return Danny's feelings? Why am I asking you? Read and find out!**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 17**

**The Fire in Danny's Heart**

Danny slowly opened his eyes to see Sam looking right back at him.

"Danny, are you okay?" she asked.

Danny groaned as he sat up. Nothing felt broken. It surprised him too since he fell several feet from that robot. He expected at least a few broken ribs.

"Somehow I'm fine," he said as he rubbed his head.

"No broken bones?" asked Sam.

"No. Nothing feels broken."

"That cut on your cheek stopped bleeding," Sam realized. "No, wait! It's completely gone! There's not even a scar!" Danny felt his face and realized that Sam was right. He didn't even feel a scab.

Team Rocket was surprised too.

"The Ghost Twerp didn't go splat?" James asked in disbelief.

"He didn't even break a bone!" Meowth exclaimed.

"How is this possible?" asked Jessie. "Alright! Let's just squish them!"

The robot then advanced toward Danny and Sam.

Danny's eyes glowed green. Lilith stopped struggling and used a Psybeam on the robot's arm. The arm fell off and freed Lilith who quickly went back to Danny and Sam.

That freaked out Team Rocket!

"How did he do that?" asked Jessie.

"It's that eye trick again!" James exclaimed.

"He must've told her to do that telepathically," Meowth hypothesized.

"Staraptor, use Aerial Ace to grab Sam's purse!" A Staraptor charged at the robot's other arm and grabbed Sam's purse.

Sam and Danny turned and saw that the Staraptor belonged to Ash.

"For once I'm glad you guys are here!" Sam happily exclaimed.

Jazz and Ash called their bird Pokémon back.

"How are we going to free Danny's Pokémon?" asked Dawn.

Tucker pulled out his PDA. "I don't know how to get his Pokémon back but I do know how to shut that robot down." He then started hacking the robot.

~0~0~0~

James noticed the control panels stopped working again. "What's wrong with this thing?"

Meowth noticed that the computer screen froze. "What the heck? How can the Four-Eyed Twerp hack through the software security I bought?"

"What security software did you buy, Meowth?" Jessie asked in a rather dangerous tone.

Meowth held up a box that read "Portals XL".

"PORTALS XL?" Jessie and James exclaimed.

"Meowth, that's the worst software ever!" Jessie exclaimed.

"How can you buy a software program that has more holes in its security system than Swiss cheese?" James asked angrily.

"It was the only software that was in our budget," Meowth defended. Danny's Pokéballs suddenly started glowing green.

~0~0~0~

Tucker smiled rather proudly. "Those idiots used Portals XL. Worst software in the region."

"Okay, the robot's immobilized but how are we going to free Danny's Pokémon?" asked Brock. "That robot looks more sturdy than the one Bastiodon knocked over."

"Then we have to draw them out," said Ash.

Danny stood up and walked toward the robot. "I think I can handle it."

"How?" asked Dawn. "They're all in their Pokéballs."

Danny looked at the robot. "I wonder…" His eyes glowed green again. He tried calling his Pokémon in his Pokéballs. All he got was silence. "Come on! Work!" he pleaded. His eyes glowed brighter.

"Is Danny alright?" Dawn asked Sam.

"I don't know. He's never used his powers like this," said Sam. She turned to Jazz. "Has he ever used his powers at this level?"

"No. He hasn't," said Jazz. "Since Lilith isn't responding that means that he's trying to call his Pokémon inside the robot."

"Don't you think that might cause a strain on his brain?" asked Brock.

Now Jazz was worried. "You might be right. Danny! Stop! Take it easy!" she called to her brother.

"NO!" Danny yelled. "They didn't just attack our Pokémon! They attacked Sam and me! I won't let them hurt the only girl I've ever cared about!" The second he said that his eyes lit up brighter than ever.

~0~0~0~

Danny's Pokéballs suddenly started glowing green. They then started wiggling and the six Pokéballs released Danny's Ghost Pokémon.

Spooky faced Team Rocket with a look of hatred on his face.

"Gengar-gengengen-Gengar-Gen-gargar!" he exclaimed.

"Meowth, what's he saying?" Jessie asked in fright.

"He's just peeved that we interrupted the Ghost Twerp's love confession, that's all," Meowth said.

"Shup!" yelled Youngblood. "Petpetpet! Shuppet-shup-shup-pet!"

"He says that all of them have been looking forward to this moment. The Ghost Twerp talked about the Goth Twerpette all the time," Meowth translated.

"Fross-froslass. Fros-fros-fros-lass-Froslass!" Spectra sneered.

"She says that the Ghost Twerp's friends and their Pokémon know that those two like each other. They're just too scared to admit it to each other. If anything were to happen to either of them, it will be our necks!"

"GENGAR-GENGAR-GENGAR! GEN! GAR!" Spooky ordered the other Ghost Pokémon. All six of them charged up their strongest attacks.

~0~0~0~

The amount of stress Danny put into his mind link became too much for him. His mind exhausted, the teenager passed out.

"Miss!"

"DANNY!" Ash and the others exclaimed.

"Chu-pi!" Pikachu exclaimed in concern.

An explosion created a giant hole in the robot and Team Rocket fell out of it. They were charred but still able to fight. Spooky and the other Ghost Pokémon jumped out of the hole and ran to Danny's side.

"Gengar-gen?" said Spooky as he tried to shake Danny awake.

"Chu-pi-pikapikachu-pika! Chuuuu…" Pikachu explained. He put his fingers around his eyes for emphasis.

"GENGAR?" Spooky exclaimed in disbelief.

Jazz looked her brother over. "I think he's okay but he's gonna need a doctor."

Team Rocket managed to recover and was ready to fight.

"You think we're going to cut you some slack just because the Ghost Twerp's down for the count?" Jessie asked angrily.

"Let's just grab Pikachu and scram!" yelled Meowth.

Ash had enough of these clowns. "That does it! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Lilith, use Psybeam!" Sam ordered.

Both Pokémon fired their attacks at the trio of crooks until the ground exploded, launching them into the air once again.

"That's twice in this town we've blasted off," said Jessie.

"That's twice in this _story_ we've blasted off," corrected James.

"We gotta talk to the writer about our roles in the sequel," said Meowth.

"If she'll write a sequel," said Jessie.

"Wobbuffet!"

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!"

~0~0~0~

Danny was rushed to the hospital that night. After doing every test available, the doctors said that there wasn't any damage done to his brain, thank goodness. He just exhausted his powers until he passed out, a common side effect for people with telekinesis and other psychic-like abilities. He just needed bed rest and a very large aspirin because he was going to have a major headache when he wakes up.

Sam refused to leave his bedside. The words Team Rocket said to them kept swimming in her head. Sam knew that Danny liked her, but did he _like_ her? Sam knew that she _liked_ him. She's had a crush on him since fifth grade when he helped her evolve Phantom.

Danny groaned and slowly opened his eyes. He turned his head in Sam's direction.

"Sam?" he croaked.

Sam's face lit up. "Danny! You're awake! Are you okay?"

Danny gave her a blank look. "My head feels like it was split in two and stapled back together. How do you think I feel?"

Sam smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. Standard question."

Danny chuckled. "So, what did the doctor say?"

"They ran every brain scan…test…whatever in the book. No damage," said Sam. "You'll be outta here by morning."

Danny smiled. "That's good. Are the Pokémon okay?"

"Yeah, they're fine. Jazz took them home."

Danny released a sigh of relief. "That's good. I guess it worked."

"What worked?" asked Sam.

"A multiple mind link," Danny answered. "That's the first time I've ever done it. Never gonna try it again."

"That was rather stupid of you to try something like that at a critical moment," Sam scolded. "You really scared me when you tried that little trick. I thought you were going to have a seizure or something like that. If something were to happen to you…my life would be pretty boring."

"I know," said Danny. "I feel the same way about you."

Sam felt herself blush at those words. "Danny, what you told me before and what Team Rocket said about us…were those true?"

Danny then blushed. "…Yes. It was all true. I care deeply about you, Sam. More than you realize. I caught Lilith and together we practiced the Flaming Heart combination to reflect how I really feel about you. If it hadn't been for Ash, Dawn and Brock, I don't think I would've been able to perfect it in time…or gather the courage to tell you."

"Tell me what?" Sam whispered.

"I love you, Sam Manson," Danny admitted.

Tears were streaming down Sam's face at this point. She had a hunch about how Danny felt for her, especially after the demonstration tonight. She was absolutely speechless.

"Danny…" she whispered. She then looked at him straight in the eye with a smile on her face. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to say those words!" She then leaned in planted her lips on top of his. He then closed his eyes and returned the kiss. He stroked her ebony hair as his tongue entered her mouth.

Neither of them noticed Ash, Brock, Dawn, Piplup, Pikachu, Jazz and Tucker peeking through the door that was open a crack, with tears streaming down their eyes.

~0~0~0~

Danny was released from the hospital the following morning. Unfortunately, it was time for Ash and his friends to continue on their journey.

"Glad you finally admitted the truth, Danny," said Ash.

"Me too," Danny replied.

Dawn hugged Sam. "I'm so happy you're finally together!" she exclaimed.

Sam stiffened at the close contact. "Dawn…Goth…no hugs," she said bluntly.

"Oh, come on! You let Danny hug you!" Dawn argued.

"That's because he's now my boyfriend so he's an exception!"

Tucker and Brock shook hands. "You find your dream girl, you hear me?" Tucker asked.

"I shall walk to the ends of the earth until I find the perfect woman!" Brock exclaimed rather dramatically.

"ACK!"

"GAH!"

Both Trainers fell to the ground at Croagunk's Poison Jab. Everyone laughed.

"I'm so going to miss that!" Sam exclaimed as she wiped a tear from her eye.

"Oh yeah! What was your mystery prize, you two?" asked Ash.

"Dinner with the president and CEO of some company called DALV," said Danny. "My dad is figuring out when we should do it. But I'll have you know that I used some of my prize money to buy me and my friends tickets to watch the Sinnoh League. We expect you to come out on top, Ash!"

"And I will!" Ash responded confidently.

"Pikapika!"

"We also bought tickets to the Grand Festival," Sam added. "I used my money to get them. Dawn, I'll be watching your next contest on TV so you better win or else!"

"No need to worry, Sam!" Dawn assured. "That Ribbon is as good as mine!"

"Piplup!" added Piplup.

"Please drop by to visit us after you get your final Badge and Ribbon," said Jazz. "Danny and I love Brock's cooking and it's nice to know we can eat without worrying that _we_ might be the meal."

"Fear not, my dear Jasmine!" Brock said flirtatiously. "For I will return and I –GAH!" Croagunk struck again. "Twice in one day?" he squeaked.

Spooky and Lilith were saying their goodbyes as well.

"Gengar, gengar-gengargengar," said Spooky.

"Pipikachu," said Pikachu. The two then bumped fists…or paws…or whatever.

"Miss! Misdreavous!" Lilith said with a smile.

"Pika! Pikachu!"

"Pip-luppip!" said Piplup.

"Gen-gar!" said Spooky who playfully punched Piplup's shoulder.

"Not to worry, Dawn. The Tuckster shall wait for you with baited breath," Tucker said flirtatiously. "ACK!" Croagunk struck again. "Why me?" he moaned.

"Well, Ash, Dawn, Brock. Thanks for helping us," said Danny who took hold of Sam's hand.

"No problem," said Ash.

"Good luck at the Sunyshore Gym too," Danny added. "I heard he's the toughest Gym Leader in Sinnoh."

"Thanks," said Ash.

"Break a leg at your next Contest, Dawn," said Sam.

"Thanks, Sam," said Dawn. "Just don't break Paul's leg if you ever see him."

"That's a promise you know I can't keep," Sam said blankly.

The two groups said their last goodbyes and Ash, Dawn and Brock left the city limits, waving goodbye to their new friends.

Sam smiled at her new boyfriend. "Do you think we'll see them again?"

Danny smiled at her. "So you have wished it, so shall it be." The two then shared a loving kiss.

* * *

**Awww... they're finally together! Danny's okay and Sam has a new Pokemon! **

**Jazz and Danny are so going to miss Brock's cooking!  
**

**You heard what Team Rocket said! Should I write a sequel?  
**

**Thank you jeanette9a, Major Simi, ChopSuzi, Fluehatraya, Hellbreaker, Marc Ello-Re Yes, Megamastermaind, Karyn Phantom, ClockworksApperentice, and Blue Eyed Phantom for following and reviewing this story! Your reviews mean everything to me!  
**


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